


Papercuts

by Justanothersinger



Category: 07-Ghost
Genre: AU, HAHAAA, I torture my characters more than usual here, M/M, Mature because non-con sex scenes and violence, More pairings in the future, Multi, So much torture, Suicide mentions, Trigger warnings in chapters, for years, ha, now i can add the tag i wanted to add, so much blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-23
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-02 10:25:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justanothersinger/pseuds/Justanothersinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These were nothing more than a few scrapes or scratches. Nothing more. And no-one paid any attention to me, let alone them. Except for that damned teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The shattered mirror

**Trigger warning: Mild mentions of violence**   


Paper-cuts

Chapter 1: The shattered mirror

It's been a long time since it rained.

Even from here, he could see the sunlight straining through the thick curtains that blocked most of the view from the French windows. It burned bright red through the crimson lace and soft white through the gap, threatening to blind his eyes in the intense darkness.

Relentlessly, he kept staring at the light, keeping his gaze anywhere.

Anywhere but at him.

He seemed to acknowledge the younger boy's tenacity, preferring instead to silently stare at him, his sharp eyes not missing a single move the boy made; the hand on the knife that buttered the bread, the eyes that stared dully at the glass and the lips that refused to say anything.

The boy could feel the stare like a lead weight on his shoulders. He took his time, slowly chewing every last morsel of food, prolonging the moment he would look up at the man finally.

"...Have you finished?"

The plate was swiped out from under him and he felt a sliver of shock on his face, despite himself.

This was different.

"...Yes." The younger one answered, keeping his voice even. The man looked at him coolly, then proceeded to drop the plates on the floor. The room echoed with multiple crashed as each plate broke into crystalline fragments. But the boy didn't bat an eye, keeping his expression calm and steady.

"Aren't you going to be late?" The man asked, leaning over so that the boy was forced to look at him.

"No. I'll make it, in plenty of time." He replied, "Besides, there's an administrative meeting in the morning, so even if I'm late, I won't miss anything."

"Don't even consider the possibility." The man's voice was colder than ice. The boy's eyes widened slightly at the change in tone, and he stared harder at the eyes in front of him.

"Forgive me." He pushed his chair back and walked across the room, hooking an arm through the black, leather bag that slumped over the recliner, "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Didn't mean anything by it?" The man was amused now. The boy could hear his steps towards him as clearly as hammer on iron. Unconsciously, he felt his fist curl on his bag strap.

" _You_  didn't mean anything by it?" He felt a hand slither through his hair, its warmth a few degrees higher than that of a corpse, "Tell me, how long has it been when you said something you did not mean?"

"I don't understand." Still, the same, flat tone. There was no point really. It was already too late.

"You say these things with an open face, grinning at me all the while I drive my own self crazy. Half-sentences with a double meaning, leaving me to guess for myself whether you mean to make me or destroy me." The man's hand gripped the boy's hair and pulled his face up. The mad gleam was back in his eye.

Already too late.

"I plan to do neither." Was all the boy said. Already he could feel that damned choking feeling in his throat, slowly creeping to his already-numb legs and rigid hands.

Too late.

"I was hoping you would say that."

Flash of silver. The knife was missing from the table.

And the last thing he remembered was a fleeting shard of pain and blood touching his eyelids, while he kept thinking one last thing. A memory.

_"No-one will ever come and save you."_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x

"You got sent out of class?  _Again?_ "

Teito winced at the volume of the yelling. Half a mile away from him, girls shot him nervous looks, while the boys merely shrugged their shoulders. It was Teito Klein after all.

"Mikage..." Teito muttered into the phone, an annoyed tick on his forehead, "I think you just blew your cover."

"Hm?" Teito heard the dry rustle of static, then a very brief but colorful span of cursing, "Shit, I gotta go. I'll call you back soon."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"When will he learn? He'll never be an army cadet at this rate." Teito sighed. Yes, he'd been sent out of class.  _Again,_ as his best friend so kindly reminded him, but it was Kyouya-sensei after all. He didn't need much to take on disciplinary measures, especially when it came to Teito, who he loathed with every fiber of his being.

 _Join the club._ Teito thought wearily. He'd been falling asleep in class more and more lately, not that it worried him much. He never found the need to pay attention, not when every lecture that the teachers give are picked up, word by word from the textbooks.

A triple-beeping sound in the air broke through that line of thought. He picked up the phone and said, "Now, what was that you were saying again, Mikage?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Mikage sighed.

"You were implying that being sent out of class was a bad thing." Teito informed him, grinning now.

"Yeah, I found it liberating actually." Mikage replied...grudgingly, it must be admitted.

"Well, at least, staying out is better than listening to the old-man's droning on battle strategies, right?"

"How'd you know I was in Techniques and Weaponry 101 now?"

"You wouldn't be calling me in-between otherwise."

"...You alright over there, Teito?" At that, Teito's smile slid off his face like sand in water.

_Caught on again, Mikage?_

Really, how was someone who could barely handle the issues on his own plate, able to tell when Teito felt like shit? It was almost as if those damned eyes in the sky  _wanted_ Mikage to know what he was going through.

"Yeah. I just had a weird dream when I fell asleep in class." Teito said, "I think it was one of you eating the Church cake again and Sister Libelle was yelling at  _me_." Teito sighed, "I still can't believe you ate the whole thing; it had to be at least seven layers."

"But it tasted like Yakisoba!"

"I really wonder how the lunch-lady manages to feed you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mikage sounded so defensive, that Teito really laughed that time. "Seriously, how's it going over there?"

"Mmm...alright, I guess." Teito responded, "Exams are over, so it's mainly lessons and a lot of free time now."

"Yeah? Lucky kid. My exams are coming up soon and I barely have time to sleep or eat now."

"Idiot, you have to sleep properly! What's the point of studying like a dog for the exams, if you're not in any shape to write them in the first place?"

"I was just exaggerating, Teito. Come on. Hey, maybe I'll take a leaf, from your book, hm? Those desks sure look uncomfortable though."

"Not really."

"You know I'll take care of myself, Teito." The cheerful tone was still there, but with a serious undertone to it, "But don't expect me to slow down. I'm giving it my all in my exams, so I can get that week-off from the academy. You've been dealing with things all by yourself right?"

"...Use it to go see your family, moron."

"They see me every other day. At least, my dad does, and my mom knows I'm fine, too." Teito shook his head and was about to respond to this a screeching bell from the other side interrupted him," Look, I have to go now. Wait for me, alright?"

"...Fine."

"Bye."  _Click._

With a weary sigh, Teito relaxed on the tree trunk, feeling the rough bark scratch against his back. He could never win with Mikage, no matter how hard he tried. And his headstrong friend didn't look like he was going to deviate from the plan either.

 _Really_. Teito felt a faint smile cross his face.

_He hasn't changed at all, has he?_

"Teito-kun?"

Teito opened his eyes and saw a man stand in front of him, with his back turned to the sun. Even though, the only light in his face was their glare off the man's glasses, Teito could recognize him.

"Castor-san?"

"I thought you might be out here. Kyouya-sensei asked me to give this to you." He held out a file of tightly-bound papers, with a grin, "You exceeded your previous performance. Congratulations."

Teito inspected the file and said, "Thank you, Castor-san."

The man made no attempt to leave. He just stared at the sky, a smile on his face.

"...You didn't just come here to give me my file, did you?"

"Well, I wish that were the case, Teito-kun." Castor said. Teito pulled himself up and looked at him closely. From this angle, it seemed like the man was calm, but he could see the slight facets of strain in those eyes.

"I've been hearing more and more things about you lately. None of which are good." The man frowned, "And that was an understatement."

"Are you talking about Grace Lockhart?" Teito asked, looking away. "...Yeah, I suppose she had plenty of stuff to tell you."

"I know that Lockhart-san's behavior belies the others' belief in her...but she claims she saw you on the school wall yesterday in the dead of night..."

"It wasn't me." Automatically, lacking any emotion. "I was at home last night with my guardian."

Castor had heard the excuse many times before, but he made no attempt to prod the boy further. He'd become well-acquainted with Teito on the many occasions that he'd been sent to the elder's office, enough to know when Teito would clam up and not tell anything more.

"Yes. That is what I thought. Well, anyway, about the file...Kyouya-sensei felt that there would be no need to ask him any questions regarding it."

"Oh?"

"He says it won't be necessary, since he's leaving."

Teito looked back at the man, "Seriously? But I thought that he cancelled his resignation."

"Let's just say that it took a lot of persuasion and a little help from his wife to give his knee a break." The man coughed, "Well, anyway. The new homeroom teacher'll be here tomorrow, so at any rate, you may as well keep it with you."  
"Alright."  
"Now, you better get back to class. I understand that you have a project to finish today? Try not to stay too late after school."

On that note, Castor walked back towards the school. Teito watched him silently, leaning back against the trunk.

"Well, I better get back too. It won't be good if I delay for too long."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x

It seemed like there were none who whispered of it.

But there always were few who broke the unspoken rule. There always was in this never-ending labyrinth called society.

He heard the rumors too. Rumors about things that the other did, that chilled his core.

He looked back at the man again, as he slumped on the black armchair, expression entirely unreadable. He seemed to notice the eyes that stared at him, for his own raised upwards and looked at the younger one.

Calmly, he stood up and walked towards the boy, sinking down to his knees in front of him. One pale, gloved hand raised the face in front of him and a grim chuckle echoed in the room.

"I know that look in your eyes. I wore in too once." He brought his hand towards the lower side of the cheek. The boy didn't answer, but merely stared ahead, not looking at anything. The man dropped his hand and looked with detached interest at the freshly-stained glove, with its blossoming crimson strain.

"You look the most beautiful with death in your eyes." The knife in his hand traced the skin, drawing a weeping line of blood where it touched. The boy took a deep breath, willing himself not to flinch.

_It would all be over after a while._

_Don't move._

"A pity that you have stopped for the time being...doing what you were born to be, that is." The man sneered, "But no matter what guise you walk around in, they can see in your eyes and tell, can't they? That you are different. The monster's keeper."

He walked back towards the armchair, without sparing a glance at the broken teen, even as he fell to a fresh wave of hacking coughs.

"Your name and your appearance can never silence him forever."

And as the boy that was just half a day ago called Teito Klein fell unconscious he heard a voice resonate in his mind.

_"No-one will ever save you."_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x


	2. Ripple Effect

**Trigger** **Warning:** **Rape, blood and violence against women and minors**   


Papercuts

Chapter 2: Ripple Effect

_**The land of the looking glass has rules to be followed.** _

The woman looked up and sighed, brushing her hair back to survey her handiwork. The floor was spotless, the taps gleamed, the light that reflected off the silverware on the table persistently tried to burn her eyes.

And the mirrors gleamed and glared at her from all sides.

She heard the shuffling noise again and turned around to see the boy stand there. For a fraction of a minute, there lay uncertainty in her features before she smiled, but she was certain that Teito could see it.

"You're awake, young master."

"Kurena." He said, nodding in acknowledgement. It was a miracle he could speak, really, considering the shivers that racked through his frame. He drew the thick quilt tightly around his body and tried to suppress yet another shudder.

"Oh my! I didn't notice how cold it had gotten!" She advanced upon the fireplace and in an instant, the soot had vanished and was replaced by bright, burning wood. The boy heaved a grateful sigh and scooted closer to the fireplace.

"Breakfast preparations are underway and should be finished in half an hour, young master." Kurena said.

"No need, Kurena. I plan on skipping breakfast today."

The conversation stilled for a moment, broken only by the spitting and hissing of the fire and the sounds of the mop breaking the water surface. Kurena looked at the young boy for a brief moment and nodded, "Very well then. I shall inform the Lord of your absence."

"You don't have to do that. I'll tell him." The child immediately replied. The eyes that peered over the blanket were ice-cold, but through the jade, she could see a sliver of concern.

"But young master..."

"Teito." The boy interrupted, a hint of childish stubbornness dawning on his blank face. The maid smiled and said, "Very well, Teito-kun. But if I were to explain away your absence, then perhaps..."

"It will not make a difference in any case. You don't have to take the blame unnecessarily, Kurena." He explained. Little by little, she could see his blank mask slipping to see genuine concern on the boy's face. He seemed to notice and turned his face away hurriedly, back towards the fireplace.

"At what time will you be leaving?"

"In half an hour maybe." He looked at the mist that caressed the glass of the French windows and winced a little at the sheer thickness. It was going to take a miracle for the sun to be able to shine through  _this_ , which was especially difficult in the gloomy province known as the Seventh District by cartographers and Hell on Earth by its residents. With a resigned sort of sigh, he left the quilt on the couch. Shivering slightly in his black jeans and grey hood thrown over his long sleeved shirt, he proceeded to pack the bag he'd left there earlier yesterday.

"Shall I prepare a bento for you, young...Teito-kun?"

"No, it's fine." He said, zipping up the bag and hefting hit on his shoulders. As he left for the door, Kurena called after him. "Teito-kun...wait." As the boy turned around, she walked over to him and said, "There's something on your face."

He froze at the hand that closed the proximity between them. If Kurena had looked closely at him, she could see Teito trembling slightly. If she had looked carefully at her young master's face, she could see the terror that he struggled to hide.

But she desisted, straightening the bandage on his cheek. "Please take care, Teito-kun." She told him, bowing slightly.

The boy looked at her for a long second, then nodded. "You too."

He walked out of the door without a second glance.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sentry Road, House no 13.

Although, it's been quite some time since the establishment there was an actual  _house._

Once it was the magnificent home of a war general, who'd died in battle. His only son was a gambling addict and recklessly spent his father's money on menial pleasures, until he didn't even have two coins to rub together. As a result, the mansion had fallen to rubble.

After the War though, the Archbishop had scouted this location and created a Church that towered over the entire District, with its gleaming marble columns and stone hallways, sheer expansion of emerald green lands with dozens of brightly-colored cheerful flowers, the complex waterways that entrapped and entranced one in a maze, where a proud marble fountain stood at the centre.

One visitor of the Church didn't care much for these surroundings though, choosing instead to indulge in what had to be his 30th cigarette this morning. Normally he respected the Church ideals and refrained from smoking(at least in front of the Sisters), but this time he was pretty sure that God would have to forgive him, considering Frau had almost been forced to join his maker for good several times already.

Heck, he didn't give a shit that Castor would be pissed at the smell of smoke in the car.

Then again...maybe he shouldn't push his luck more than he ought to.

He clambered out of the car and crushed the cigarette in his gloved hand before throwing the remains on the road. Looking back again at the fog with distaste, he proceeded to walk inside.

The corridor lanterns had already been lit, and their dull flames illuminated the marble corridors, throwing their soft light over the wide expanse inside. Most of the people who stood there were acolytes, bishops, nuns and the orphans who stayed there, but there were the rare early visitors who looked in wonder at the incredible mosaics and glass-art. Seeing looks on their faces made the man grin in a weary sort of way. The Church-goers had spared no expense to replace this building to its former beauty, a place worthy of invoking God's blessings.

He did appreciate the art decor, he truly did.

Too bad it made the place so fucking easy to get lost in.

As he rounded yet another corner and ended up in the same spot, he sighed. He thought that today would finally be the day that he could get around the Church without asking anyone. He'd been in the Church more times than he could count and he still keeps losing his way.

 _Either my navigation skills are for shit or I'm just an idiot._ He thought, running his hands through his hair. He started down another corridor...before hitting a 'dead end'; the exam hall and the bishops' dormitories which were out of bounds for visitors.

He glared at the wooden doors before turning abruptly and stomping back to the starting point, all the while trying to convince himself that at least he had a vague idea about the Church now. He continued to do so as he tried to go down yet another corridor. He was barely a few paces in...when he was almost knocked down to the floor.

"What the-?" Cursing, he ducked to the side and narrowly avoided the large white object that hurled in his way. It skidded to a halt on the floor and with a soft pattering of feet, straightened and rushed towards him again.

Before he could do anything, sharp, piercing whistles sounded through the air and the creature came to a grinding halt in front of him. Now that it had stopped, Frau could see that it was a pure white dog, with intelligent crimson eyes that stared at Frau curiously. It gave a playful yip and bounded behind him, barking all the while.

Frau was still quite disoriented, and was incredibly thankful when the whistling stopped. Instead, it was replaced by soft taps against the floor, that echoed eerily in the large hallway.

 _Footsteps._ His mind informed him. He looked up at that point and saw a young boy running up to where he was standing. The dog woofed softly on seeing the new arrival and bounded to the brunet.

"My, this is a lively scene."

"'Lively' is not the word I'd use, old man." Frau commented dryly, eyes still on the brown-haired boy, who was petting the dog somewhat awkwardly, considering the canine was practically hanging off the boy's slate-grey jacket.

"Really, Frau. That is not the proper way to address Jio-sama." The lady at the back said to him, irritation only barely evident in her voice.

"It's alright, Libelle. No need to waste your breath on him." The smile on the old man's face took away the bite from his words. He looked at Frau curiously, "It's quite a ways off the beaten path, Frau. I don't expect you're here on a social call?"

"Not really." Frau said, finally looking at the man. "I just had time to kill before my next job."

"...Then step into my office. Might as well make ourselves comfortable." Archbishop Jio said, pointing to a door not five feet away from him.

 _Knew I'd find my way eventually._ Frau sighed wearily. As he walked in, he heard Archbishop Jio say softly, "Shouldn't you go to school?"

"I'm early." Was the boy's curt reply, as he kneeled on the ground to gently push the dog off himself.

"All is well, I trust?"

"Yes." If he noticed the slight hesitation in the boy's voice, Jio did not comment on it. Instead, he nodded and said, "Well, off with you then."

"Come on, Calypso." The boy motioned to the dog, who followed happily behind with a trail of friendly yips. Jio closed the heavy wooden door behind him, cutting off the noises outside, and flooding the room with an easy, comfortable silence.

"Now then, Frau. I wouldn't have thought you of all people would show up at the Church Entrance, after all these years. At this time, I might add." Jio said, tilting his head in direction of the clock. It read 7:30 am.

"I know, old man, but my job starts at the crack of dawn." As if to emphasize this point, Frau let out a long yawn, "And anyway, I can't afford to be picky about my work. This job didn't just fall into my lap, y'know."

"Oh?"

"Hey, don't look at me all weird. This job is completely legit."

"What is it then?"

As Jio predicted, Frau started squirming around in his chair. What the Archbishop didn't know was that the man was reluctant to reveal his occupation for different reasons. "You'll laugh."

"Really, Frau. This manner is befitting of a child."

"You'll still laugh."

"I'm only concerned for your welfare, Frau. If your job's nature is something that you cannot reveal, then…"

With a resigned sigh, Frau told him. And true to his word…

"Damn it, just shut your trap already, old fart!" Frau demanded. Archbishop Jio wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "Pardon me," he said, still chuckling, "But that was quite unexpected."

"I did warn you." Frau pointed out sulkily.

"Nevertheless, you never struck me as the type for…that kind of job."

"Like I said, I can't afford to be picky. Castor recommended me specially and this was the only opening available. If I didn't look for a way to start earning something fast, I may as well've been kicked out on the street."

"I see. How are things otherwise, Frau?"

"Apart from the money bit?" Frau scratched his head, "It's been…really quiet. That's the only way I can put it."

"Ah." Jio nodded, "But you do not seem at ease."

"You know me too well, old fart." Frau gave him a weary grin, "So you should know by now that I can't stand it when things are too quiet."

"Certainly, you kick up enough of a ruckus when you deem fit." Jio sniffed derisively.

"Heh. So how have things been on your end?"

"Splendid, as usual. And I expect them to proceed that way, Frau." The man said, looking at him sternly. Wordlessly, Frau raised his hands in mock surrender, then grinned his most infuriating grin. "Relax. I can't do anything now anyways. No time. Speaking of," He added, looking at the clock, "I'd best be going now. Don't want to be late on my first day."

"I daresay not. You would be late on every other day, in any case."

"See you."

"Oh and Frau. Give Castor and Labrador my blessing."

"From what I hear, they're going to need it." Frau muttered as he closed the door behind him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x

"You made it." Castor remarked, as Frau showed himself inside the Counselor's room. To be fair, the tone of surprise in the man's voice was faint.

"Welcome, Frau." Labrador said with a smile.

"Nice place." The school had been bigger than he expected, but to his relief, he found his way around without any problem. He wasn't fussed with the issue of directions; he was here to stay at this place...well, unless they kick him out or he resign. Chances are, that it would be the former.

"I'm surprised that you made it here in one piece." Castor said, voicing Frau's thoughts.

"This place isn't as bad as the Church."

"With the number of times you visited the Church, don't you think you should have a faint idea of the way by now?" Castor asked, with a slightly mocking grin. Frau instantly bristled, "Can you find your way around it then, if it's so damned easy?"

"Of course." Castor replied, without any hesitation.

Frau sputtered inaudibly for a while, before making a "tch" noise and settling down on one of the plush leather chairs near the table. Labrador proceeded to pour him some fresh herbal tea, and judging from the unusual smell, Frau concluded that it was one of the doctor's concoctions again. He sipped it cautiously. It was faintly spicy, yet there was an interesting sweetness to it that counter-balanced the fire.

"Anyway, considering that you got the Juniors' Class this year, finding your way about the school will be the least of your problems."

"What, are they a bunch of juvenile delinquents?" There was a dark glint in Frau's eye now, "If so, then I know how to handle 'em."

"Please. Do not." Castor emphasized, "On the contrary, this year's batch is the most studious one we've hosted so far. The main problem is that they constantly hassle teachers, looking for answers to questions beyond the book. I thought I should warn you before you meet them for the first time."

Frau let out an overly-long sigh and grinned, "Meh. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less, if  _you_ of all people recommended me for it."

"There was no-one else we could get on such short notice."  _Unfortunately,_ the tone in Castor's voice added.

A short, loud tap sounded on the door.

"My, he's impeccable. On time, as usual." Castor said, looking at the clock, "Come in."

The door opened and a boy made his way through. "Did you want to see me about something, Castor-san…?" His voice trailed off as he stared at Frau. Likewise, Frau stared back at him in mild confusion.

"Frau, this is Teito said, swiftly covering up the awkwardness of the moment with introductions, "Teito-kun, this is Frau. He's a new teacher here."

"We've met." Frau said. There was no doubt about it; it was the same boy from the Church this morning. Apparently, Frau was not the only one who liked to take morning detours before going to school.

"Oh, is that so?" Labrador put in mildly, "Then perhaps, Teito-kun, can you show Frau around the school?"

"Ah…" Teito blinked, "But what about…?" He gestured wordlessly to Castor. The man smiled, "It's alright, Teito-kun. We can skip today's session."

"Ok, then. Um, this way." Teito said to Frau, indicating the doorway behind him. The latter got to his feet, saying, "Let's go, kid."

Oddly enough, Teito seemed to bristle at that, but a quick glance at Castor and Labrador made him hold his tongue. He just nodded stiffly and proceeded out the door. The heavy thudding of

footsteps behind him told him that Frau was following him. He indicated the room nearest to Castor's, "This is the library. Normally, Nobue-san is in charge of this place, but she's taken an

extended leave and the place is now run by Tanaka-sensei."

At this point, Teito looked behind him and noted the expression of dissatisfaction on Frau's face.  _So…_ he mused,  _he is the womanizing type after all._

Before he had entered the room, he stood in the corridor. The man Frau had left the door slightly ajar, so every word of the conversation reached the boy's ears. Castor normally admonished this as

eavesdropping, but Teito didn't think so. He was merely in the wrong place, at the wrong time in most occasions.

"Why did Glasses call you there anyway?" Frau suddenly asked behind him. Teito paused, looking back, "…Glasses?"

"…I mean, Castor. Why'd he call you to his office?" Teito blinked. It was as if Frau read his mind. For some reason, that…felt strangely unnerving. "I usually have sessions with Castor-sensei in the

afternoon."

"Hehhhh…are you one of those juvie types he warned me about?"

"Hardly." Teito said, a bite of impatience in his voice, "He just recommended that I see him on a daily basis, instead of sporadically, after school."

He braced himself for a further jibe; perhaps Frau would ask if he had any emotional trauma. Or perhaps assume that the boy was misunderstood or attention-seeking. Wasn't that logical to assume when someone visited the school counselor,  _everyday_ no less?

But the blond didn't inquire further; he just looked thoughtfully off into the distance.

"This is the cafeteria." Teito pointed out a large hall with a large counter. Behind the glass were several platters, heaped with food and at the far ends were plastic trays, "And behind those double-doors at the other end are the swimming pool and tennis court." He indicated the glass windows, where, sure enough, the glimmer of the sun reflected off an azure pool and glinting on the worn-out court.

"This is the gym." He indicated another set of double-doors just opposite of the cafeteria, "Basketball practice often takes place here. On occasion, basketball matches also take place here."

"Let me guess. Full school attendance is mandatory right?"

"Yes."

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not." Teito sighed.

"That must suck for you."

"Why do you say that?" Teito asked, honestly curious. The question surprised him as much as it did the older man.

"You don't exactly look the type for sports." Frau pointed out.

"It does beat having classes though."

"Saying that to a teacher's face on his first day? That's incredibly bold of you, brat." Teito flushed. The blond did have him there.

"…Anyway, here. This is the Junior's homeroom." Frau looked around and whistled. No wonder the school was huge; the homeroom was wide and airy, with rows and rows of desks stacked up on stone steps. The little light that the sun could emit through the thick fog shone through the large glass windows, floor-length and intricately decorated.

"Right then. Might as well start right away. You can give me the rest of the tour during recess, kid." Frau said. He walked inside and put his briefcase down on the desk. He was about to unwind on his chair when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up.

Teito was climbing the stairs.

"What?" He asked, when he noticed Frau's stare.

"What're you climbing the stairs for?"

"I'm getting ready for class. Sue me if I like to do that early." Teito said defensively.

"...This is your class?"

"Are you stupid?" Teito countered, dropping all pretenses of polite student-teacher interaction.

"...How old are you, kid?"

"Seventeen."

"...Well, now I can see why you're so enthusiastic where basketball is concerned." Teito reddened again at that and inwardly cursed his absurdly short height.

"L-Like I said, it beats having classes." Teito said. Teacher and newly-discovered student glared at each other and continued doing so, until the bell rang for homeroom. Even after that, Teito remained more taciturn than usual, refusing to do anything but look out the window.

He wasn't upset that he'd messed up his introduction to his new "sensei" (Hah! He would rather believe himself to be a nine-tailed fox before he thought of that  _giant,_ aggravating man as a sensei). No, he was more angry at himself for losing his composure so easily. That man, Frau, he seemed to have an ability to get under people's skin and ask them questions they know they can't answer. All the while, grinning that damn infuriating grin.

More to the point, first impressions weren't exactly his forte. Sustaining a social relationship wasn't one either. It took Mikage weeks to get Teito to talk to him, let alone earn his trust.

It wasn't that he couldn't trust people(although, he was still hesitant about that topic). It was the fact that the more people grew close to him, the more he lured them to the edges of his private wall. And the more likely they seemed to fall over the edge of sanity and entered a world he shuddered to remember.

His world.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was evening when Teito returned to the mansion.

"Welcome back, young...Teito-kun." Kurena said, stumbling momentarily over the lack of formality. Teito nodded to her in return and set his back bag down at its usual spot near the fire-place.

"How was your day?" She asked, as she took his coat.

"Eventful. We had a new sensei in homeroom today."

"...You don't seem to be happy about it, Teito-kun. If I may be so bold to point out." She hastily added. A weary smile crept up the teen's face. "That..." He huffed tiredly, "is an understatement. But it's not anything I can't handle."

"...I see."

"And yours. Kurena?"

"My day was simply spent in the mansion. I did not need to go to the town, as our supplies are still plentiful." She replied. Teito looked at her sharply, "By that...nothing else happened?"

"No."

"Ah. Has he returned?"

"Yes."

"Kurena...is all well?"

"Yes."

"You're lying. Show me your arm, Kurena." Even as he said the words, he grabbed her sleeve. It was warm, but oddly damp and from even here he could sense the rustic smell that made bile rise in his throat. He looked at her with hard, unchanging eyes...but she could still see the pleading behind the mask. Wordlessly, she pulled the sleeve back and revealed long slashes that extended to her elbow. The lacerations were clearly newly-made; some of them still wept tears of blood.

"Where is he, Kurena?"

"The kitchen." She replied, with little hesitation. Her face did not change, but a pang struck her heart when she saw the master head towards the door. With a flash of black, she was upon him, her arm on his shoulder. She looked at him mutely, refusing to let Teito go.

"Kurena. Let me go."

He could feel the slight trembling through her fingertips, and could finally see the raw panic on her face now. He tried to pull his arm away.

The maid refused, merely tightening her grip on his arm.

Teito put his hand over hers and gently pried each finger away, "It's going to be ok." He kept saying, "Nothing's going to happen to you. I'll deal with him myself, and you stay in your room. I'll see you tomorrow."

The maid nodded and made her way to her bedroom shakily. Teito proceeded towards the kitchen and opened the door.

"You're early."

"Yeah. School got over and there was no after-class." As he spoke, he looked at the older man sitting on the counter. His silver hair covered hung languidly over his cheeks and his sepia-colored eyes glowed in the darkness. His posture was straight, and his hands hung stiffly behind him.

"You have no after-school activities?" Lord Ayanami asked.

"No. Not for today, at least."

Ayanami lowered himself to the floor and walked over to Teito. As the distance closed between them, Teito carefully shut his own expressions away behind an unyielding mask, the fisted hands and the unsteady beating of his heart the only indications of life in him.

"So you rushed home immediately?" Ayanami asked, a small sneer readying on his lips.

"Yes."

"There were no detours?"

The beating of Teito's heart quickened at the dark undertone in his voice and Teito mentally berated himself, forcing himself to calm down. He would not show fear. He will  _never_ show fear.

"Detours, Lord Ayanami?" He asked, in a naively questioning tone.

The man slashed at the boy with an unnerving burst of speed. Teito caught the brief movement, saw a flash of silver from the corner of his eye. His legs dragged his body back but he felt the knife drop and slash before him.

Drops of warm scarlet flew to his face, as he gazed at Ayanami with startled eyes. The freshly-made cut in his chest started to prick, itching horribly and Teito had the uncanny feeling of worms crawling up his skin.

In one fluid movement, Ayanami raised the knife to his face and surveyed the blood idly.

"You...are truly a dangerous creature." He mused, as he looked back at Teito. With every effort he could muster, Teito hid his emotions under a mask once again.

_He's angry._

_Good._

"How so?" Teito asked, in that tone he knew the man hated. It was sugary sweet, with just the right amount of naivety that Ayanami found infuriating. But to his surprise, Ayanami smiled lazily back at him, as he once more closed the remaining distance between the boy and himself.

"Such a dangerous being..." The man practically purred as he caught some of Teito's wayward hair between his fingertips. As he stared at the brown hair, reminiscent of chocolate silk, he left his fingers to linger on the scar on the boy's cheek...the one that he himself had left the last time.

"But truly...you must be cocky to let your guard down to this extent."

The knife flared and plunged again, this time tearing at an old scar near the boy's hip. Teito gritted his teeth, but was unable to stop the moan of pain escaping from his mouth.

_If he's angry...then it will get over more quickly._

"I wonder what you're thinking." Ayanami continued, as he looked at the boy's pain-struck face. Teito merely looked away and didn't answer. He felt cold fingers dig in the re-awakened scar and suppressed a shudder.

Ayanami wordlessly drew his blood-stained fingers upward and painted the boy's lips a deep red. "This sinful color suits you." The man smirked, before he closed the remaining space between them.

Those cold lips, mixed with the rustic taste of blood made his body shiver and he felt that familiar cold numbness, creeping up his skin. His arms remained limp and his breath hitched as Ayanami moved from the mouth to his neck...and slowly towards his chest.

"Sometimes, your naivety astounds me. But your attitude is not that of a child. No matter how much you persuade yourself you cannot hide who you really are." He said, as he caressed the boy's chest.

"The hell I am. You made sure of that." Even though he persuaded himself not to, a modicum of anger leaked in his voice. Ayanami moved towards the hip and touched the crying scar, before unzipping the boy's pants. "What a disgraceful sight." Ayanami commented, as he revealed Teito's manhood, "I should take care of this." With that, he ran his tongue along the hardening length.

"Bastard..." Teito spat out through clenched teeth.

"How brave. To challenge your master so openly."

"You are not my master."

"Just as you are not a human." Ayanami looked back up at the boy again, as he licked the whitish liquid from his lips, "If only the others could see you now." His arms which had draped themselves on the boy's waist, slowly started to move around, caressing the pale skin.

"Damn you..." Teito moaned. It was beyond him to control himself now.

"But then I want to keep these moments for myself." Ayanami continued, as he removed his own trousers, "I want to preserve in my memory, the image of the monster, soiled and filthy, tamed by it's own desires."  
 _Shit. I'm really losing it now..._

_It will get over soon. Calm down._

The stab of pain interrupted him from his desire-driven trance and he cried out. Ayanami had shoved one of his fingers into Teito. Smirking, he pulled it out, letting it linger inside the boy.

"Monster. Traitor. The world has been very unkind to you, Teito Klein." He inserted two fingers now. The boy cried out, clutching his arms against his body, shivering.

And a third.

"The hell with you, you bastard!" He screamed. But it was no use. The manor was so large, that they, in a kitchen shoved in an isolated corner, could not be interrupted.

"I've been there. And I know the hatred you have towards me." Ayanami pushed his throbbing manhood towards Tetio's and the boy had to force himself not to gag.

"Hate me more."

As he thrusted into Teito, a rush of painful blood flew to the boy's head and he blacked out.

 


	3. Proof Of Life

**Trigger warning: More violence against minors**  

Papercuts

Chapter 3: Proof of Life

Teito woke up two hours later.

He'd felt cold stone the minute awareness flooded back into him. Automatically, he shifted, seeking comfort and groaned loudly when he felt the white-hot shard slice through his body.

Memory came to him with the pain and forcing himself to calm down, back to restive state, he slowly opened an eyelid.

Just to his side, he saw the door, left slightly ajar, enough for the dim hallway light to spill through. Slowly, carefully he pushed himself up, gritting his teeth against the protests of his aching body. He was dimly aware of a soft, silky fabric sliding from his shoulders to his legs and looked down to see a thin blanket draping his form.

He already knew that Ayanami had left the kitchen. The man never stuck around him long enough if he could help it; he used Teito as he would and then, he'd go back to ignoring the boy's existence in the next breath.

Teito hesitantly got to his feet, one arm clamped on the counter, the other clutching the blanket that drifted listlessly towards the ground. He took in a deep breath and forced his body to move, one painful step at a time, towards the door and out of the kitchen.

Luckily for him, his room had been based on the ground floor and not up the spiraling staircase that led to the servants' quarters above. He just walked a few steps and he was sorely tempted to sink on his knees and stay there till morning. Fisting his hands even tighter, he half-supported himself on the wall, closing his eyes and suppressing the impulse.

His outstretched hand brushed against something rough, and he looked to see dusty oak instead of smooth stone. Gratefully, he opened the door and staggered inside.

His room was spartan; a bed, a desk, a cupboard and a side-table were the only signs of any human life in the vicinity. His window was covered with simple white curtains that still smelled of starch, framing the all-encompassing midnight blue that shone above, the gibbous moon positioned in the centre; like a dented pearl in the sea of velvet.

He dragged himself to the bathroom to the left of the door, staring enviously at the bed, with its cold steel legs, the stiff white sheets with a white cotton blanket and the iron head-board.

Sleep can wait. It's not as if he gets much of it anyway.

He needed a bath.

He needed to rid himself of the cold feeling that wrapped around his numbing body. And of the unpleasant warmth of the sinful white that coated his skin, mingled with the metallic smell of drying blood.

Automatically, the bile that he had been forcing back the entire evening shot up his throat and he barely had time to duck in front of the toilet before it broke past his weakened resistance.

He retched until his throat burned in protest and his stomach growled at its sudden emptiness, but he welcomed the feeling. If anything, it rid the taste of blood and sweat in his mouth. Just thinking about it threatened to pull back up what little food he had left in him since that afternoon lifetimes away. He slid against the wall, utterly drained, not caring that he was naked as the day he was born.

At least, Ayanami hadn't scarred his face or neck this time. But he saw the man's eyes when Ayanami forced himself upon him; the man was far from through with him.

He didn't want to think of the repercussions just yet. They would come whether he willed it or not. But not now.

He groaned a little, as he pulled himself up again. With any luck, the pain would be gone…or at least, lessen by tomorrow morning.

He stepped into the bathtub and started the shower, sighing in relief when the hot water slid on his bruised and battered body. He massaged the heat into his skin, as he felt his mind grow lighter in the steam and warmth surrounding him.

His thoughts drifted, skipping lightly from one memory to another. In his sleep-ridden state, he could feel his ability to hold onto a single memory slip from him.

Almost as if his memories were fading to dark. Almost as if  _he_ was fading to dark.

 _Is this what it's like? ,_ He mused,  _Is this what it's like to turn into a beast from the blood-filled world of cardinal sin?_

_It's happening to me, isn't it?_

As he pondered, he felt another memory resurfacing. He'd expected it to pass to the beyond as well, but to his immense surprise, it persisted.

It was different from the other, more recent, more painful memories. It happened in a time he felt like eons away from him, but every speck, every detail was present.

If mental thought had the sensation of substance, of  _feeling_ , this one would be soft as feather-down, and light to the touch, giving a warm spark of energy that countered the prickly threads of misfortune.

 **"** _**Hey, Teito!"** _

_Teito blinked at the screen of his cell-phone. Was it his imagination or was the voice on the other end- "…Mikage? Don't you have class now?"_

_**"Huh? Ah, well…maybe?"** _ _Teito could hear voices in the background, before a shuffling noise cut them off._

"… _You're calling me in the middle of class, aren't you?"_

 **"** _**N-Not really. I mean, class is ending now anyway, so technically, I'm not calling in the** _ _**middle** _ _**of class…"** _

" _Isn't it the second period now? I thought cell-phones aren't allowed in class…"_

 **"** _**More like the entire Academy."** _ _Mikage said gloomily,_ _**"But I heard that you have recess now, so I thought it'd be a good time to call you."** _

" _For what?"_

 **"** _**To say hi! Hi~!"** _ _He could practically see Mikage's child-like grin,_ _**"What, I'm not allowed to say hi now?"** _

" _Moron." Teito managed, his own lips twitching._

 **"** _**Ehhh…how mean! I go through all this trouble to sneak in the mobile under the sensei's nose-which is not an easy feat, I tell you-"** _

" _Where are you sitting now?"_

 **"** _**Back row. As in way back…shoot!"** _ _There was a clattering noise on the floor and Teito could hear Mikage's voice answering some question the sensei asked. Then with another clattering noise, silence resumed except for the sensei's nasal voice echoing in the distance._

 **"** _**Teito? You still there?"** _

_Teito sighed. "I hope at the very least, you answered that question properly."_

**"'** _**Course I did!"** _ _Mikage said, in a mock-offended tone,_ _**"I may not be the student know-it-all, but I've been studying properly this time! Honest!"** _

" _Your mid-terms are around the corner right?"_

 **"** _**Yeah."** _ _Mikage answered reluctantly,_ _**"But I'm ready this time. I think."** _

" _At the very least, don't do anything idiotic. Like that disastrous study-session." Teito paused for a minute to shudder. It was a miracle he'd survived that night._

 **"** _**Don't worry, already! I do all my studying myself. No alcohol, no pot-heads and no car-crashing involved. Scout's Honor."** _

" _Remind me again when you were a Boy scout?"_

 **"** _**All right then, Cadet's Honor! Enough about me,"** _ _Mikage continued, waving the issue aside,_ _**"How have you been doing over the past couple of weeks? How's your new school? I heard they've got a real amphitheatre in there! Is it true? The cafeteria food's pretty high class, isn't it? And the rooms look like they belong in a palace! That may be because it was one though. And I heard about the library too! Someone told me there were a couple of secret passages down there that lead to the blocked-off castle dungeons! Whoa! What do they look like? What-?"** _

"… _I really envy your room-mate and the people who stay at your dorm. Not. Are you this hyper all the time?"_

 **"** _**I prefer the term open.** _ _**It's fun to be open, y'know? Plus it helps if you eat a lot of sugar everyday. So are you going to answer my question or not?"** _

" _Which one?" Teito asked resignedly._

 **"** _**How's your new school? And neighbourhood in general."** _

" _That's two questions." Teito couldn't help pointing out, "Well, anyway. The neighbourhood is well-kept and quiet. I don't stay much there, my villa's on the border of the District, so I don't know the ins and outs of the place as such. They have a good theatre though. Not much interesting stuff to tell you. Just your regular sleepy suburb. As for the school, it's like being in those classy boarding schools teenage girls read in novels-you're right, it was a palace before it was converted to a school-and there's plenty of stuff for me to do everyday."_

 **"** _**Do you have any new friends there?"** _

" _I'm still new." The fib came out easily, without even the smidge of guilt Teito usually felt for lying to his best friend, "They tend to keep to themselves there, so…"_

 **"** _**Oh. Okay then. I just wanted to ask how you were. Keep your cell next to you though, 'cause this is not going to be the last call."** _

" _What…?"_

 **"** _ **Yeah! I'll call you the same time everyday! That is…"**_   _Mikage continued, hesitating,_ _ **"…unless you're already booked. I can understand."**_

" _You really are a moron, you know that?" Teito sighed, allowing himself a wistful grin, "I'll be waiting, then."_

 **"** _**Great! Talk to you tomorrow! Take care of yourself, understand?"** _

Take care of yourself. Four simple words that simply drop from people's mouths when they converse. They mean little more than empty promises and even then, their worth is not valued by those who give it.

So why did it bring tears to Teito's eyes when he remembered them?

They started slowly at first, dripping over his cheeks and tracing his jaw-line. Then, they increased in intensity as if his eyes were jealous of the pain surrounding the rest of his body.

He leaned his forehead against the frosted glass and clenched his teeth against the sobs, but they broke through the little composure he had left as the sorrow burned his veins to consume his heart.

_Don't care about me, Mikage. Don't._

_It hurts too much to care about me._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Come on, Castor. Just a few more hours."

Castor frowned at Labrador, who was currently leafing through one of the many pamphlets scattered across the desk. "It's easy for you to say," Castor retorted, " _You_ don't have any appointments today. I, on the other hand, have had to see one hysterical couple after another and have to assure each and every one of them that their child OR children do not have any serious psychological problems, rather they're just shy/misunderstood/hyper-aware of their social surroundings/tend to emulate their idols/not able to relate to peers of the same age. And in the last hour, I've been informed that many of my files need to be updated, including test results and IQ examinations of the student over the last three years and a revision of his/her extra-curricular activities if I am to maintain my status of Counselor. Not including the fact that I must soon attend the Inauguration Ceremony for the new auditorium, after which I must check upon the several mail-orders for new books on Calculus, Chemistry and Physical Sciences for the Eastern Wing. Then I have to be back upon the desk once more, smiling inanely and trying to convince the parents that neither the child nor I have psychotic tendencies."

Labrador grinned, "One of the advantages of being the Medical Attendant in a high school were many of the students have their own private doctors. It makes one feel un-needed, but at least I have time to tend to the flower garden out back."

 _It's a pity many of them don't bother to add a pet psychiatrist to their collection,_ Castor sighed resignedly and turned back to the file he had been reviewing.

"How is Frau doing?" Labrador asked.

"Frau… seems to be doing fine." Castor said absent-mindedly as he finished filling out a form and started checking another file, "He's adjusting to the school quite well. Better than I expected."

"I was surprised when you suggested him as the replacement German teacher. I didn't even know he was that good at the subject."

"He wasn't." Castor admitted," That may be due to the fact that he kept skipping school to go watch German films, which is why he's quite fluent in speaking. It's a miracle he can even read and write Japanese. For some bizarre reason, it never showed on his tests though."

"I'm glad. Frau's been needing a job for some time now."

"He's still stubborn as ever?"

"You knew him better than me, Castor." Labrador said, as he kept the pamphlet back on the desk, "After all, you grew up with him."

"Indeed. Although, I've yet to find out whether  _he_ 's grown. Mentally, at least." Castor replied, shuffling the papers into some kind of organized mess.

"Castor, don't start picking on him again. He isn't one of your regulars."

"He should be." Castor muttered.

"Too bad I'm not. So why don't you go use those head-shrinking powers of yours on some poor defenseless kid instead?"

Castor didn't even bother looking up, "It's rude to eavesdrop. And smoke in people's offices."

Frau rolled his eyes and sauntered in, settling down on the leather sofa, "I need a smoke and your room is the only area on campus without a smoke alarm. Do the math."

"I was never aware that you were such an expert on the subject, Frau."

"How are you finding your job, Frau?" Labrador asked, as Frau wasted his energy glaring at Castor when the man couldn't even see it.

"Alright, I guess. Glasses was right though; they do annoy the hell out of you, with doubts and crap." Frau said, leaning back in the chair and increasing his chances of drowning in leather upholstery. He didn't care. It would be a comfortable way to die at any rate.

"So did you teach them any more German swear words yet?"

"For the last time…" Frau growled, "that was an accident! I didn't mean to; it just slipped out! And they didn't understand head or tail of it; in that sense, their education is, sadly, lacking."

"Thank the Gods that Mrs. Lancaster wasn't around to hear that particular outburst. You're toeing the line as it is."

"That old bag? Nahh, she's too fond of me.  _Real_ fond of me, as it happens." Frau smirked, "I'd say that my standing here in this school is as steady as a rock."

"Frau. Please do not tell me you are having sex with the school's principal." Castor said, looking up at last, "The last thing you need is another scandal to drive you out of town. Again."

"Hardly." Frau deadpanned, "I didn't take things that far with her. Although she's got a sinful body for a woman her age…"

 _And I thought convincing Willem Frond to stop hanging around railroad tracks was hard._  Castor sighed,  _At least I know how to deal with suicidal teens. My handbook, however, does not state the list of things to do when dealing with horny teachers._

"Do you have any classes after this Frau?" Labrador asked.

"Not really." Frau replied, after taking a long drag from his cigarette, "Which is why I'm not going to show at the Inauguration Ceremony for the auditorium. It's not like I'm going to be of any use there, anyway." He continued, prompted by Castor's raised eyebrow, "I'm still new and I wasn't around when they listed out the duties for each teacher there. So what's the point of hanging around a place where I don't have shit to do?"

"I suppose you're right." Castor replied, turning his attention once more to his growing pile of work, "But, try to remain inconspicuous. There are dignitaries arriving here for the inauguration, and it wouldn't do if you made a bad impression on them on your first week."

"So any other week is fine?" Frau quipped. On seeing Castor's frown, he grinned, "Lighten up, Glasses. 'Course I'll be on my best behavior. Now, if you'll excuse me, I got some time to kill. See you, Lab." He dumped his cigarette in a silver ashtray and walked out without another word.

The smell of nicotine lingered in his clothes and hair, but Frau was least bothered. It's not like he's the only one who smokes here; even the prim and proper, 'idealistic' teachers here at Barsburg Academy indulge in a sin or two, be it drinking, smoking, drugs etc. They just didn't make it as obvious as Frau.

Since his first day here, he got the feeling he was different. His t-shirt-leather-jeans-military-boots look combined with his sharp, chiseled features just seemed to scream 'King of the yakuza' to them. Not like they hid it from him. According to them, the only thing he was missing was a monstrous dirt-bike and some beaten-up underlings on the floor a few feet away from him.

And his I-don't-give-a-shit-about-it attitude towards anything related to the school did not help either.

Not to say that they could complain about his teaching; he may not look it, but Frau did know more than a thing or two about German. And when they weren't being pricks with the doubts and the extra questions thing, the kids in his class were surprisingly normal, especially for a rich school. And they seemed to respect him; though that may be due to the fact that they were afraid he'd pull out a gun from underneath that huge oak desk of his.

He counted back the days to when he arrived and was surprised to find that he spent two weeks there already.

_Time passes quickly here._

_I'd forgotten._

Or was it because he was finally back?

His eyes drifted towards the window just near him.

And he stopped dead.

Even though the glare of the rare sun was blinding, he could still see three figures standing in the Eastern courtyard. It was impossible not to.

Not when one of them had, at that point, leaped into the air and with the savage and ferocity of a lion, kicked the others to the ground, then proceeding to beat the living shit out of one of them.

One foot moved in front of the other. But Frau's eyes remained on the glass until the wild kid looked up from the boy he had been bashing to pieces. His eyes, fiery with rage and hate, were large and an impossibly green shade that Frau recognized all too well.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x

Reason remains flighty to the monster's keeper.

_The sky roars around his head._

Teito felt his heart lurch as his body leaped forward.

_As he hears the sound that he most dreads._

He sees the tornado of color around him, feels the wind streak through his hair and cutting his face with a sharpness that could bleed.

He bleeds now. It drips against his forearm from the numb, cold stone that is his fist.

But it is not his own blood.

He feels a cry rip through his throat, so alien, so foreign, that it makes his hair stand on end.

He sees the other ones. Their mouths move, but the sounds reach his ears late, like watching an ancient, run-down film. The look of horror on their faces thrill and terrify him at the same time.

_It was too late._

_Bones against his fingertips shatter and crack._

_It was too late._

_The blood that is not his own marks his prey._

_And the monster in him rejoices._

_The sweet dance, the wine we drink…_

_Is mixed with poison…_

_And we go mad…_

What am I doing?

_He hears a voice call his name._

Stop.

_The monster in him roars._

_The human in him reaches to his soul._

_Stop it!_

_They clash. They collide. They fight for control._

_The siege for power was too much._

It's too much!

He hears the sound long before he feels the sharp pain, as something collides with his head. Startled, he blinks and finally registers that foul stench, the one he smells of so often…

Blood…

_Blood rushes to his head._

_And he accepts the waiting darkness without a struggle_.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

White.

Even through the dark, he could see it.

Pure white, a force so strong it seared through his head and made it ache.

A light.

His light?

Mikage?

A groan racked through his body as he shifted his arm, pain running through it towards his back.

Pain?

Pain.

He felt his strength trickle back with the pain and with it, consciousness. He was suddenly aware that his eyes were closed and opened them automatically.

A minute later, he wished he didn't. The light flared viciously into his unprotected eyes and with a faint groan, he propped his arm against them while he used the other to carefully push himself up.

"Back among the living, kid?"

The voice was heard, but was faint in the pounding of his head. The room seemed to be spinning, and each beat of his heart seemed to resonate loudly in his ears, in his throat…it wracked his whole body. He swayed a little and fell back against the pillows.

"Here."

Something grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back up gently. Through the blinding light, Teito was just able to make out a blurry figure, but he didn't need to see the face.

"Frau-sensei?" The name was rusty on his tongue and his throat croaked, as if he hadn't spoken in days.

"Feh. You're alright then." Frau said, somewhat irritably. He was sitting beside Teito on a small stool, which accounted for why his absurd height was less emphasized than usual. Eyes now adjusted, Teito lowered his hand and saw that he was sitting on a leather sofa, red and surprisingly soft, to the point where he felt like he was sitting in quicksand.

"Where am I?"

"You must be out of it to not recognize this prison cell. Castor said you visited him everyday after school, remember?"

"The Counselor's office." Now he remembered. But the sun was still unusually high up in the sky, judging by the only-slightly faded golden light. When Teito normally visited Castor-sensei, it would be around evening. Wouldn't there be classes right now…?

Then it came to him. With sickening clarity, he remembered the frenzy he'd gone into earlier, when the last thing he remembered seeing was that boy's face…the last thing he heard was bones breaking…screaming…

"Did I…did I kill him?"

Frau looked at him incredulously, "Of course you didn't. You didn't even scratch him. That kid was just knocked out, and you gave him a couple of bruises but that was it."

"But…there was…there was blood…"

"That from a broken nose. I have to hand it to you kid; for a puny brat, you can sure throw a mean punch."

_A broken nose?_

_That's it?_

_Come to think of it…I actually don't remember_ doing  _anything to him. The minute I saw the blood, I remembered…_

_A time when I wasn't capable of remembering._

His head started spinning, and he repressed the urge to pass out again, especially in front of Frau. More to distract himself than anything, he asked, "What time is it?"

"Close to one. You can forget about going to your afternoon classes now. Lab's ordered you to go home straight. The medical attendant." Frau added, when Teito shot him a confused look, "And besides, I don't even think you can make it out the door."

Teito glared at him, "I'm not a dying invalid. And besides, I have to go to class, I need to give in my project and-" Teito broke off, as he remembered something, "Don't you have class? The Inauguration Ceremony should be over by now, right?"

Frau looked like he'd been sitting there for quite some time before Teito woke up. His face was dull, as if he'd been waiting for a long time and his movements were languid.

Almost as if he was…worried about Teito.

_No way._

"Nope. I don't. I'm…well, I  _was_ free for the rest of the day."

"Then you didn't have to take me here."

"'Course I had to."

"What?"

"Come on. Do you expect me to leave you lying on the grass there? I don't know what issues you had with that kid, but I can't just ignore someone who looks like he's a shade paler than death. Besides, I had to come here anyways. Castor had a spare cloak for me."

The words flew over Teito's head. "Why would you need a spare cloak?"

"Because  _someone_ …" And here Frau looked at Teito accusingly, looking so much like a child that Teito resisted the impulse to laugh, "…was too wimpy to stand the sight of blood and threw up on me. Do a kid a favor and look what you get in return. This is why I hate school…"

"I  _threw up_ on you?" Teito asked disbelievingly, interrupting the teacher's muttering.

"You nearly gave Castor a heart-attack. Glasses wanted the grounds to be spotless emerald, not puke-infested white. You know I imagined that a smart kid with a weak stomach wouldn't normally go looking for fights, and then you come along."

"Well, I'm not the smartest kid in class." Teito replied hotly.

"The test scores on your report beg to differ. An A on  _every_ subject, plus extra-credit from participating in the Beautification Committee-not like you need it. I was wondering whether you were even human, or maybe some wacked-up android or something on a test run from the Government, to see whether you can mingle with other humans." Frau said, "If that was the case, I'd have sent you straight back to the laboratory."

"…You have an active imagination."

"Nah, I just sit late-night watching horror movie marathons."

"Seriously? You like watching horror movies?"

"Mostly to laugh at their visual effects. The last one I saw, there was blood flying at least fifty feet from where the guy was standing after he was attacked by this zombie."

"…I'd have imagined you to be one of those Rebel-movie types. Because you look like you should be in one."

"Oh-ho. I see that the cockiness hasn't left you, even though most of your breakfast has."

Teito's stomach gave a large rumble at that. Now that it had his attention, Teito couldn't imagine how he'd managed to ignore it in the first place.

"Thought as much." Frau said, grinning. Teito had to raise an eyebrow;  _he_ wasn't the one being cocky here.

Frau stood up and walked over to where Castor's desk was. When he returned, he had a large plastic tray with him, which he unceremoniously plonked on Teito's lap. "I didn't know what you liked, so I got one of everything." He said, explaining the unusually large quantity of food.

Teito blinked. "Um…"

"And drink this." Frau said, holding out a cup, "Lab says you need something warm to drink." Bemused, Teito took it and sipped; it was hot chocolate, which warmed him up straightaway and cleared his head.

"Right, then. I'm off."

"Eh? Wait a moment!"

"What? If it's to nag at me some more, at least save it till tomorrow. I've got to go meet someone."

"…Thanks."

Frau stopped walking. He looked over his shoulder and saw the boy fidgeting, looking down at the food. With a sigh, Teito forced himself to look up.

"Thanks for helping me."

If Teito looked closer, he could have sworn that there was a smile on the King of the Yakuza's face.

"You're welcome, kid."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x


	4. Wild Doll

**Trigger Warnings: Rape, violence against minors**   


Papercuts

Chapter 4: Wild Doll

"You're early."

_Like you really care about that._

"I wasn't feeling well." Teito curtly replied, "And the school doctor said I should go home for the day."

"Hmm." Ayanami commented disinterestedly, still staring out the window. Teito busied himself with undoing the tangled mess of knots that his shoelaces had become. He struggled with them silently for five minutes before finally bowing to the inevitable and pulling his shoes off by hand, irritably shoving them into an empty space in the shoe-rack.

"Urk..." Teito winced when the movement jolted his sore arm. He carefully brought it back to the side, a few inches away from his body and gritted his teeth, willing for the pain to stop.

Naturally, it didn't. It had however lessened considerably with the change in position though. He massaged the bicep with his other arm as he settled down on one of the dining-room chairs that faced the door, adjusting it slightly to the side so he was just out of the man's line of sight.

If Ayanami saw the more than obvious change in position, he did not comment upon it. He merely directed his gaze from the blanket of blue outside to the map that was spread atop the glossy mahogany table, fingering one of the yellowed edges.

"Is that all that he said to you?" Ayanami asked finally.

"Yes." Teito said, still staring towards the doorway.

"...And what of your condition?"

"He said it wasn't anything serious." Teito shrugged a little, still not facing Ayanami, "I may have caught the flu that's been spreading around school recently."

"...And how long are you planning to lie?"

"For as long as I want to." Teito answered, without missing a beat.  _And my heart did not miss any either._ He told himself vehemently. Still, no matter how much nor how hard he tried to lie, he knew that Ayanami wouldn't be fooled. Sick as the man was, there wasn't a single thing that could pass by him that escaped his notice.

"You know that I know the truth."  _Again with the damn mind-reading._ Teito neither confirmed nor denied the statement, remaining silent as he absentmindedly twisted the white thread on his hooded jacket with his finger.

"And yet you still lie." Ayanami fell silent, expecting Teito's on-cue smart-assed reply. When Teito still refrained from answering him, the man did not speak, simply letting the silence between them stretch on for what seemed like forever.

He didn't need to speak.

Teito could hear the grating sound of wood scraping against marble as the chair of the mahogany desk was pushed back.

His actions spoke for him.

Teito could hear the soft footsteps on that same marble floor, as Ayanami casually made his way to the boy.

And his actions boded ill for the person they were targeting.

The soft rustle of flesh against hair reached him late. The pain reached him first. Teito bit his lip as the fiery shards bit into his scalp, refusing to show weakness. Ayanami's own face was set into a grim expression as he twisted the boy around to face him.

 _I am not a puppet!_ Teito snarled, dislodging Ayanami's vice-like fingers. "Yes, I still lie." Teito said, mouthing each word like they tasted of sour-tinged metal, "But that's only because I tell the truth to people I  _respect_."

Ayanami blinked, then grew incredibly still. Teito regarded him with cold eyes that were shallow at the depths. He couldn't let Ayanami see through them after all. He couldn't let the man know that his anger had floundered and flickered out the moment those words left his mouth. In this battle, Teito would not give up. Not when he knew what was coming.

" _Respect"_ He enunciated that word with the same amount of venom Teito had spat at him earlier, "has to be earned, boy. Are you worthy of earning mine?"

"I could say the same to you." Teito shot back.

Ayanami's arm shot out again and he gripped Teito's hair more forcefully this time. He wrenched the locks farther back, forcing the boy's head up. That didn't mean that Teito would look at him though.

"The servant girl left something in the fridge for the rats to eat. Go, get rid of it." He said shortly. With that he let go of the boy's hair and walked out of the room.

 _Kurena?_ Teito remained rooted the spot for half a minute before sighing and pushing the stray hair from out of his eyes. His other hand brushed the pocket where the necklace lingered and he glanced briefly at the doorway again before pulling it out.

The gold chain glittered brilliantly in the sunlight, but anyone could see that the gold was painted on, for small bits of the paint had started flaking off on the oval locket. Teito balanced it in his hand, tracing the outline of the locket with his fingertip, before shoving it back in his pocket and heading for the kitchen.

He wasn't there.

Teito hesitated briefly at the door before pushing it open and heading for the double-door steel fridge. Inside, Kurena had indeed left him some sandwiches wrapped in plastic and some orange juice. Tacked on the juice carton was a note.

_Master Teito,_

_In the event that you feel hungry, I've prepared these sandwiches and bought some juice. I apologize for the lack of variety, but this leave of mine had come at short notice, as I've already explained to you in the note in the locket I've delivered._

_I shall see you in two days. Please take care until then._

_-Kurena_

Teito unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. It was so cold he could barely taste what he was eating, but he didn't mind. In spite of the heavy meal that Frau had given him at school, he was still famished, not to mention that his throat felt like sandpaper.

He finished eating the sandwich and opened a packet of orange juice, bypassing the straw and opening the carton fully so he could chug it down.

Moments later, he wished he hadn't.

_Ugh, brain freeze. Lovely._

He took out the remaining sandwiches and closed the fridge door with his foot, heading for his room.  _I'll wait for the remaining sandwiches to thaw there._

He eased his way inside and dumped the sandwiches on his bare desk, before pulling out the locket again and placing it under his pillow.

_I hardly doubt that she will come back after two days._

As his eyes scanned the room, he paused momentarily at the bathroom. His hand automatically moved to his throat, as if the presence of flesh was enough to drive away the sudden tightness.

But he'd learned to deal with such emotions countless times before.

He'd either go insane or transform into something barely human.

If he hadn't already.

So what was the point in remembering the details he would soon forget when the blessed-cursed darkness strips him of reasonable thought?

Something gripped him in the back. Hard.

Taken aback, Teito flinched and almost tripped, but another arm caught his own and spun him around. He barely had time to register purple eyes boring into his own before cold lips forced themselves upon his.

"Wha-?" He yelled.

Ayanami pulled away from him. "I apologize if I came at an unwelcome time." He recited in a mocking tone, "But then, I did not expect whores to have neither personal time nor…"His voice had darkened alarmingly at this point, "boundaries."

He unzipped Teito's jacket and pulled it off the boy's shoulders with the force just shy of the amount required to dislocate an arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Teito shouted, trying to push the man away. Ayanami merely brushed the boy's hands off and caught them both in one of his own, pinning the boy to the floor.

Briskly, he yanked Teito's T-shirt up and over the boy's head.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you, bastard!" Teito kicked at the man's stomach. Ayanami grunted at the force of it, then caught the boy's neck with his other hand, squeezing it tightly. As Teito choked and gasped, the man let go of Teito's neck and just about managed to pull the boy's pants down, lingering just a bit too long at the pelvis area, tracing the dip of the bones with a single finger.

"Oh, but I cannot, you see. If the only words that come out of your mouth are lies, then what is the point in listening, boy?"

Teito glared at the man and scratched at the hand that was on his neck. Ayanami alleviated the pressure and leaned even closer.

"You don't deserve the truth."

Ayanami closed his eyes, like the words had inflicted physical pain on him. But that was just one more act. A beast like him wouldn't feel any pain.

_Takes one to know one._

Then suddenly, the man drew away. "You bore me." He said, and if it weren't for the dangerous, killing intent hidden in that low voice, the words would have seemed almost childish. His eyes darkened, and it may have been the light shining directly at him, but he could have sworn that those eyes turned black as night for a single, stuttering heartbeat.

"You make me regret." Ayanami said, with a small exhale, his version of a mock-disappointed sigh, "For a moment, I wish that the servant girl were still here."

_Thud!_

A dull sound echoed throughout the room as the teenager pushed himself up in a second and without even hesitating, punched Ayanami in the face. The man showed no reaction, only touching the place where Teito had hit him and looking down at the boy.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Teito hissed.

"Ever ready to take up the mantle of the martyr, I see." Ayanami commented lightly.

"We had an agreement, Ayanami." Teito barked at him, "Break it and we're done."

"I would have thought you would take the first opportunity to break our…deal." Ayanami said.

"I am not  _you._ " Teito said.

"True, you are not. You are the hero of this tragic story, and so you choose the  _honourable_ way out." At that, Ayanami's eyes raked over the teenager's still-naked body, and Teito flushed and looked away.

"Which makes you the crazy bastard who fucks the whole story up."

"What vile choice of vocabulary. It does not befit you, Teito."

"You don't own me." Teito simply said.

"No." The surprising admission threw Teito off for a minute, but he maintained his stance.

"However, as long as you continue to let your heart rule you," Ayanami curled his lip, like the very idea was as ridiculous as it was incomprehensible, "I use your heart to rule you. I do not need to own you."

Teito looked him full in the eye and pulled his own lips back in a smirk, "You keep saying that you're turning me into a beast. A killing machine. A killing machine has no need for a heart. Keep doing this to me and one day, I will be the end of you."

Ayanami just stared at him in interest, and then nodded in perfect comprehension, like he'd expected that answer all along, "Yes. But as long as you continue to hate me, I will continue to use you. I will always find a way to use you."

As he spoke, Teito felt a hand creep up the underside of his leg. Instinct made him try to yank the leg away, but he was stopped by the firm grip of the man's other hand on his ankle.

"Animal." Teito hissed.

"You are turning into one as well, Teito." Ayanami pointed out. Teito gritted his teeth, but the retort was lost, as the man's hands slowly started drifting over his body, the touch of rubber gloves on skin creating a strange, unsettling sensation.

"Until this boy ceases to exist, he is a prisoner. Does he chain the monster or the other way around?"

Now, they moved towards his sides, touches soft, drifting and so painfully light that they made the boy's stomach flutter. They continued upwards, mapping every cell of the body that lay before them, as they had done so many times before.

A shiver rippled up Teito's back as he saw Ayanami's eyes loom over his face. His throat dried up and he found that it was almost impossible for him to talk, even if he wanted to. Even if he had words to speak, insults to throw, he just...couldn't...

Ayanami took Teito's lips in his own hungrily, licking at Teito's lips until they gave way before him, tasting the boy with his tongue. His hands pressed against Teito's hips, pushing the boy upward and arching his back even more, as the boy bit his lip and gripped at the floor with shaking fingers.

"Ah..." The involuntary moan was lost in the kiss that seemed to rob him of the breath in his body, leaving him cold, aching and strangely weak.

"Give in." It was an order now, all mockery gone, and hell, with what the man was doing to his body, Teito wanted to do just that; give in to those sinfully talented fingers that knew where he needed to be touched in order to be silenced. Teito closed his eyes and tried to muffle the disgusting sounds rising in his throat as Ayanami dipped his tongue between his parted lips, nipping at them with his teeth.

The man finally spared his lips and drifted down to the boy's chest, tongue flicking in and out, tasting the salty sweetness of Teito's skin. What little breath Teito managed to regain was expelled again in a gasp as Ayanami traced the spot directly over his heart with long nails, scratching at the skin as if it would break and give way, to allow the claw-like fingers to push through until the touch was satisfied by the soft pierce of strong, fluttering red muscle and stained with tears of blood.

His mind was so fogged in horror and sensation, he couldn't even distinguish right from wrong anymore.

 _No!_ He quickly snapped back to sanity when he felt the blast of air on his neck as he was pulled ever more up, after laying on the floor for so long,  _Don't! That bastard is trying to make you want this!_

But the touches on his body left him feeling heady. All he could think about was the way that Ayanami's fingers drifted along his chest, teasing each of the sensitive spots there with flesh and tongue, butterfly kisses that kept poisoning his mind over and over and over again…

Ayanami was on his knees now, pulling Teito to a sitting position close to him.

Too close to him. Teito squirmed and tried to put some distance between himself and Ayanami, but the man would have nothing of it. He caught one of Teito's hands in his own and led it downward until…

Teito's eyes shot open. "You…! Just where do you think you're putting my hand?"

Ayanami didn't answer, only forcing Teito's grip on his manhood. Teito recoiled in disgust at the touch, the hot, stiff,  _throbbing…_

"Give…in." The words were faint, the sentence cracked in the middle. Ayanami was losing his composure. Strong fingers tilted the boy's chin upwards and he could see Ayanami's fury at himself for letting Teito's touch get to him.

He took his grip of the boy's hands and pulled off the gloves his wore with his teeth.

"Time's up."

The touches this time were far from gentle. Those cold, thin fingers kneaded painfully into the bruises on Teito's body, tracing the roughness of the scabs over his cuts and the blurred outlines of purple and green-yellow skin.

The cold, numb feeling seeped into his spine and Teito took a deep breath, revelling in the sensation. The worst part was over; now that the pain had started, he could fight the urge more easily now. He withdrew into his mind, blocking off his surroundings, to wait until it was over.

It did work. To an extent, he couldn't feel the things that were being done to his body.

But there were always exceptions.

Like the warm, damp breath that he felt across his neck as he felt Ayanami's tongue traced the path of his lifeblood that beat under the thin, breakable skin that separated them both.

And the tightening hold of the hands across his hips.

And finally, the stab of pain that resonated through the boy as Ayanami drove into him, without even so much as preparing the boy.

His mental control had shattered; scattered around him like dust in the wind and he cried out, digging his fingers into the floor for all it was worth. Ayanami grunted and shoved in further, eroding away the boy's control.

Teito stared up at him with soulless eyes, bruised and battered lips mouthing shapes at random, until he could push the scream that lodged itself in his throat upwards to power their worth.

" _I hate you!_ "

Ayanami didn't even pause, wasn't even fazed by the declaration, just continuing to probe into Teito, taking what was forever and always  _his_.

"Likewise."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

5:30 am.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

_Click._

5:45 am.

_Beep! Beep! Bee-!_

_Click._

6:00 am.

_Beep! Beep!_

_Click._

6:15 am.

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

_Cli-_

_Ker-crash!_

"Fuck it all." Frau groaned into the pillow. The banged-up piece of shit formerly known as a digital clock lay still on the floor, red numbers flashing innocently behind the thrice-cracked screen. How it could still work after having endured this morning ritual for 7-ish years is anybody's guess, but then, so was the issue of Frau getting up so early in the morning. The man continued to mutter a string of curses into his pillow for a few more minutes, until his stomach decided to join in with a clamouring of its own.

Frau sighed and cracked an eye open. The room was still dark, which either meant that his stupid alarm clock had somehow set itself 15-something minutes faster again or the fog that morning was thicker than usual and blocked out the sun. He really, really hoped it was the former, but in any case he had to check out which it was.

Somehow, Frau managed to detach himself from the blessed object of fabric, linen and down-feather and sit up, before clambering out of the bed in an ungainly fashion and making his way, yawning, to the window. He glared at the offending rays of sunlight...what he could see of it anyway, behind the fog that clouded over the golden orb.

"Guess it can't be helped." He yawned again and dragged his feet to the bathroom.

20 minutes and a steaming hot shower later, Frau was sitting at the small, round dining table with a plate of somewhat-brown pancakes in front of him, smothered in maple syrup. He propped his face up on one hand while the other got busy trying to shove the carbohydrates into him, in a futile attempt to get him out of his half-asleep state.

 _I really need to stop staying out so late,_ Frau thought, as he yawned for what had to be the fortieth time this morning,  _Note to self: Next time Leo tries to sweet-talk me into trying some of his new poisoned cocktails...concoctions, or whatever he calls 'em at that godforsaken bar of his, tell him to shove it._ He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling at the awkwardly bent golden strands.

His eyes moved to the clock. It was now 6:45 am. Unless he get a move on, Frau would be late at the first meeting at his new job.

Yes. A meeting. At the crack of fucking dawn.

And no, Labrador had repeatedly reassured Frau, the abnormal timing was a result of the school's completely-packed schedule, the result of the frequent visits of the dignitaries from the District's educational board and was not in any way related to the fact that Castor had quite the amount of power[read: dirt, skeletons-in-the-closet, that sort of thing] over the principal of the ever-so-prestigious Barsburg Academy and that the same man had been more-than-a-little pissed off to see that Frau's libertine streak hadn't faded with time.

 _It's not like I go roof-jumping anymore._ Frau thought irritably, as he dumped his used plate inside the sink, increasing the ungainly grimy pile of china and steel there by one,  _Or ditch school halfway and make a beeline for this place's Red-Light District. Hell, I'm not even sure this place even has its own Red-Light District._ The reason being that he just couldn't imagine any host clubs, bars or brothels in the same District that was famed for housing the largest Church in the Empire.

And even if that weren't the case...the people were...well. They often reminded him of the weather that frequently inhabited the place; social but silent, compassionate but cold. At first glance it looks like they are fairly open with their affairs, people with nothing to hide but then you stare harder and realize that they had much more deeper shit that they didn't want anyone to know.

Frau had been in this place for more than half his life and he still didn't understand how the town ticked. Maybe that made him an outsider in everyone's eyes. Not like they tried to hide it either.

Or maybe it was the motorbike and the leather jackets. And the glaring fact that the blonde still didn't know left from right in his own hometown, courtesy of his "extraordinarily inept directional skills". Quoth Castor.

Frau shrugged on his favourite navy blue trench-coat and into black boots before leaving the apartment and stepping into the dimly-lit lobby, stopping yet another yawn as he jabbed at the elevator button.

_Might as well get this over with._

And Frau, though not immediately identifiable with the character trait called 'patience' in the personal view of most of the people he'd met, can be surprisingly adept at displaying the selfsame quality in these sort of situations.

However, it did take a lot out of him. And seeing as he had to deal with classrooms of teenagers soon after, he wasn't exactly looking forward to the meeting.

So, he couldn't decide whether he was irritated or relieved when he found out that the stupid thing was cancelled.

"Seriously?" He repeated, gaping at the red-head sitting behind the marble counter. And not because she had an amazing rack either.

Ok, that may have been a  _tiny_ part of it.

"Yes, Frau-sensei. Apparently, the cancellation was a last-minute request from Principal Lancaster on receiving word that the representatives from the Educational Committee would be making rounds today." She repeated calmly, not the least bit put out by his staring. Or showing any reaction for that matter.

"But won't they be here only in the afternoon?" Frau questioned.

"Arrangements are to be made regarding their inspection and it is estimated that these preparations would take about 4 to 5 hours to complete." She said, reverting her gaze back to her computer as she spoke, "We are cutting it quite close as it is."

"I see." He looked down at his watch again, "So classes start at 8 'o' clock, like usual?"

"Yes."

"Great. That leaves me with an hour left to kill." Frau sighed. He then looked back at the red-haired woman, "Say, are you free right now?"

"Hell no, I'm not interested." The woman replied in a much more human-sounding tone. At Frau's expression, she actually did crack a smile, "I'm afraid your reputation precedes you, Frau- _sensei._ " She said, placing special emphasis on the sensei bit.

 _Wow. The rumours started already?_ Frau whistled. "Believe it then. Most of that stuff's true."

She raised an eyebrow, "Even the one where-?"

Frau raised a hand, effectively cutting her off, "Uh-uh. Really don't want to know." At her confused expression, Frau grinned, "At this point, I've given up on trying to track down everything they say about me. You would too if you've ridden across all Seven Districts and lived to tell the tale."

"...I see. Interesting." And miracle of miracles, she really did look interested at that.

"So you're not gonna change your mind?" Frau asked, grinning that "woman-killer" grin of his. Quoth Frau.

"Nope." She replied, without batting an eye, "I'm engaged. Nice try, buddy." She continued, waving the gold banded finger in front of him.

_Damn._

"Ah well." Frau said, straightening up, "Thanks for the info."

"Lexis." She said, pointing to the name tag and donning her blue-rimmed glasses again.

"Frau. No suffixes. Just Frau." Frau said, before pushing the door open, "And congratulations. Tell your fiancé that he's one lucky man." Lexis showed no indication that she'd heard except for a slight reddening around her ears. Frau smirked again and made his way out to the hall.

 _But seriously, what am I supposed to do for the next hour here? If I'd known about this cancellation sooner, I would've stayed in bed._ Frau griped as he walked along,  _I'm really not in the mood to go to the staff lounge and start watching sappy tv soaps. Which is what they'll be showing at this hour. Bleh._

And on top of everything else, along with the irritation, the urge to break out the cigarettes was gnawing at his brain. At a place like the super-prestigious Barsburg Academy where the higher-ups kept the kids on tight leashes with drug tests, constant surveillance and above all, non-smoking devices placed in  _all_ areas.

Except, for some unfathomable reason, Castor's room. Maybe he let his clients have the occasional smoke so that they can loosen up and talk to him more? For a brief moment, Frau wondered exactly what kind of dirt Castor held over the principal's head. And whether he really wanted to find out.

So, in any case, he can't sneak in one either until idiot Glasses came to the school, which would only be after half an hour.

 _Unless..._ Frau stopped walking and stared at the floor thoughtfully,  _A few days back, Labrador told me that after the inauguration ceremony, they stopped using the old auditorium, and since there isn't anybody hanging around that place anymore, they stripped that building clean. Which means electrical devices too._

Frau reached inside his jeans pocket and felt his fingers brush smooth plastic. Looks like it won't be such a shitty day after all. He changed direction and headed towards the main gates.

 _If I remember correctly, Lab said it was to the far left of the gates._ Frau pushed the entrance door opened and shuddered briefly when the wave of cold hit him.

 _Wonder if there's enough gold up there in that castle to spare for a few garden heater fans._ He hopped down the stairs and made his way west, hurrying up when he saw the building up ahead.

He walked his way up the staircase and eased himself through the gap through the heavy double doors.

The auditorium was spacious, but oddly warm, even though the weak light that poured in through the gap in the door did little to illuminate the area.

It was dark, stuffy and humid.

It was perfect for him.

He just about made out the white-covered objects that littered the floor, varied in size and carefully tip-toed around them, trying not to knock anything over.  _They must be using this place as a storehouse for all the props for the Theatre Club's plays._

He stopped when he reached the other side. The stage of the auditorium was exactly like the auditorium itself; grand, painted with warm wood and earth colours. The stage was not the normal rectangular shape though; it jutted out in the general direction of the audience in a semi-circular fashion, with a gold-painted[hell, it may even be real gold. Frau wouldn't expect any less from this school] railing around the rim.

Frau continued to stare at it, until he nodded to himself, mind apparently made up. He walked towards the stairs on the left side of the stage, climbed up them and a few minutes later, was leaning across the railing to the seats below.

For some strange reason, the stage area was much warmer than the rest of the auditorium, humid almost. Frau could practically feel his hands defrosting from the inside of his gloves. And now that he was on the stage, he could hear a strange, but very familiar whirring sound to his far right that sounded almost...mechanical?

_Wait a minute._

Frau looked towards his far right for a minute, then quietly walked towards the stage wing. The closer he was, the louder he could hear that whirring sound.

When he'd completely left the stage and walked into the wings, he could just make out the silhouette of a dark wood door. Behind it, the mechanical whirring was so loud now it was deafening.

"Oi! Is somebody there?" Frau called. No voice answered him, but Frau could now hear another sound added to the mix. This sound wasn't mechanical at all, but somewhat deep, and low...and vibrating?

_That sound...is that a dog growling?_

Frau tested the handle of the door. It was jammed and no amount of pulling or pushing could get it free.

_The hell? But how did a dog get in there if it's stuck?_

"Oi, mutt! If you can hear me, just stand back!" Frau yelled, choosing to ignore the fact that he'd just shouted to an animal that presumably is not able to understand him. Had he dwelt on the realization, he would've felt quite stupid. But then, according to Castor, the man was impervious to sheer stupidity considering he was neck-deep in the stuff as it is.

He didn't have the time anyway, because he was too busy walking a few paces away from the door, lowering his hands to the side and in a single, fluid movement, raised his right leg and kicked at the door, throwing the full weight of his body in the impact.

The door shuddered, then made a low, groaning noise and fell over backwards, raising insanely thick clouds of dust as it hit the floor. Frau had approximately 0.06 seconds to register these facts before something large, white and  _very loud_ came hurtling right at him from inside the room and knocked him backwards.

"Oof! What the fuck?"

A very happy  _woof_  sound answered him, only emphasized by the slathering of doggie drool on the man's face. "Cut that out! And get off me already, I need air in my system, damnit!" Of course, he was wasting some by just yelling at the pooch. In any case, the dog heeded his words and slithered towards the man's right, standing up properly when its feet touched the floor.

At that point Frau really looked at the dog.

And realized that it looked awfully familiar.

Intelligent crimson eyes stared right at him.

"...Calypso?" He asked finally, recognizing the mutt as the Church dog. The dog nodded and pressed its face near Frau's cheek affectionately, which made him draw back immediately.

"What...?" The dog just stared at him silently as he slowly sat up and looked at it in confusion. He pulled off one of his gloves and hesitated, staring at the dog. The dog just blinked and leaned into his bare hand.

Calypso's fur was soft and silky. And extremely hot. So hot, it felt like his hand was going to burn by just touching the dog's fur.

"How did you get like this?" Frau asked. Calypso got up and walked back into the room. She stopped just a few feet inside, looking back at Frau.

"...You want me to follow you?" Frau asked out loud. She gave a soft bark, and Frau took that as a yes. He stepped into the room and did a double-take when the heat wave finally hit him, practically scorching the cold off his face.

The mystery of the whirring sound was finally solved, and just as he'd suspected, it was from a disused portable heating fan that was connected to a wall socket which, somehow, still provided electricity. Yet, despite the fact that the room was hot enough to rival the heat-baked sands of the desert far away from the Seventh District, one small figure was huddled in a corner with a thin, ratty brown blanket that seemed ten times bigger than its owner. Only the top of the head could be seen; a mop of ruffled brown hair and closed eyes framed by an uneasy frown, even as the figure breathed in and out in the slow manner of a sleeper.

Calypso walked up to the figure and nudged its side gently. At that, those eyes slowly opened and clouded jade eyes stared in confusion at the dog.

"Calypso...? What's wrong?" Teito asked, sitting up straight, the blanket falling away to reveal his face fully. He rubbed his eyes, one at a time, while he stared at the dog through his free eye in a detached sort of confusion. Apparently he was still half-asleep and hadn't registered the fact that he'd been trapped in a room with a hyperactive dog and a heater fan at a hot enough temperature to cook human skin for  _god knows how long._

"What are you doing here, brat?" The question finally drew Teito's attention from his adoring dog to the man who stood at the now-open doorway.

"...Frau-sensei? What are you doing here?" Teito asked, as he started pulling his blanket free.

Calypso yipped and padded back to Frau, where she pranced around at his feet.

"I asked you first." Frau said testily, even as he bent down and patted the dog on the head. Teito finally shed the blanket and pulled himself off the floor...where he was promptly knocked over by the over-energetic Calypso, woofing and barking at him in short, loud bursts.

"Looks like you scared the shit out of her, kid." Frau added unnecessarily, as he wandered further into the room. After watching Teito try to disentangle himself from the dog and fail miserably, Frau smirked, walked over to where the pair lay sprawled on the floor, carefully pulled the dog off and with a brisk yank, took the boy's flailing hand and pulled him to his feet.

For one brief moment, he could feel the heat practically radiating out of Teito's skin, every bit as warm as Calypso's cotton-candy-like fur. The man's fingers had wrapped around the kid's wrist and for that one brief moment, he could actually feel the kid's heartbeat, still somewhat slowed from Teito's nap earlier.

So when the shiver racked through Teito's thin frame, Frau felt it. The moment Frau's fingers touched him, Teito had flinched away, rocking backwards on the soles of his feet and pulling his hand from Frau's iron grip.

"Oi, oi, brat! You almost dislocated my shoulder!" Frau griped, looking up to glare at the boy.

And stopping short when he really looked at him.

Teito was staring at Frau with an expression that could only be described as hell-born hate, shadows darkening the light green shade of the eyes with an ominous grey, chest heaving as he breathed in short, rapid breaths, left arm gripping at the right, left shoulder pointed outwards in the strange stance, as if he'd shove down anyone who took so much as a step closer towards him, his feet spread apart, as though bracing himself for a hit that would never come.

"Teito?"

One blink and the moment was gone.

"...Stop treating me like a kid already." Teito said sullenly. He turned his back to Frau and whistled softly to Calypso. The dog bounded eagerly to her master's feet and he bent down to pet her.

"That's enough for today, Calypso." He said, gently but firmly, "We should probably get you home now."

"And how do you propose we do that, brat?" Frau asked, raising an eyebrow, "Students can't leave the campus during school hours. And even though it's a free period right now, it counts as school hours."

"I don't know!" Teito snapped, "I'll just figure out a way! Calypso can't come with me to school; pets aren't allowed on the campus for one thing and it's not like I can leave her here! She could get locked in again!"

"Then what do you do?" Frau repeated, staring at the boy's bent head. From here, he could almost see the cogs whirring in the kid's mind, as it went into overtime.

"I said I'll come up with a way." Teito repeated, much less heatedly, lost in thought, "Come on, Calypso."

Without another word, he walked out of the room, the white-haired dog close by his side. Frau stared after him for a few moments, then sighed. "Not so much as a thank you. What a moody kid." He bent over and turned off the heater fan and unplugged it from the wall socket after flipping the switch off. That done, he left the room too.

A few minutes later, he was outside, shielding his eyes from the suddenly-shining sun with his hand. He was halfway through the school grounds when he stopped. And sighed.

And headed towards the direction of the gate.

Sure enough, the brat didn't disappoint. Right in front of him, a familiar white-haired dog was pacing back and forth near the gate anxiously, her face tilted upwards, watching her master as he tried to scale the school gates. The selfsame school gates which had to be over 17 feet tall, framed on either side by brick walls that were rimmed with barbed wire at the very top, painted in a suspiciously realistic gold sheen. [Frau momentarily wondered if these were real gold too. Surely, the higher-ups wouldn't spend that much on decoration. Then again...] Keyword being 'tried'.

Teito huffed irritably, then paused, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He eased himself up slowly, and hooked his fingers through the leaf-and-vine latticework, simultaneously placing his foot solidly on the gold bars.

The sigh of relief turned into a gasp as his sneaker slipped off the slick gold metal, the force of it prying his fingers away from the gate and throwing him backwards, falling towards the ground...

"You know kid, when you said you were going to come up with a way, I did expect you to come up with an actual way out. 'Cause you're supposed to be smart and all." Frau half-shrugged. Teito glared back up at him and shifted irritably in the man's arms, trying and miserably failing to push himself away and onto solid ground.

"Let me go!" He snarled. Calypso, by this time, had bounded back up to Frau, whimpering pitifully.

"He's fine." Frau scoffed, turning his head to the side to avoid the kicks and punches the kid was aiming at him.

"I said, let me go, idiot teacher! I have to get Calypso back before-" Teito's sentence was abruptly cut off when Frau dropped him unceremoniously onto the ground and started dusting off his jacket, watching with amusement as Calypso started barking and howling reproachfully at the boy, gnawing at the kid's overlong sleeves with his teeth.

"The hell was that for?"

Frau ignored him and walked down the slightly sloping road, until it split into a fork; one path led to the school and the other led to the security guard's office.

"Where are you going?" Teito called after him. When Frau didn't answer him again, he muttered, "Screw this. We still have to get you out of here." He got up and looked back at the gate again, "So climbing it is a bad idea."  
If dogs could roll eyes...wait, could they roll eyes? Teito mused briefly, before shaking his head and looking back to the school building, "...Is there some way we can hide you until school is over? Since the old auditorium is a no-go, maybe we should try the Gym? Oh, right. Today's Tuesday, so they'll be holding mass drill for the seniors. Crap." He chewed on his lip and stared hard at the ground, "And the library is a definite no; even if I manage to somehow sneak you in one of those disused closets, I can't actually guarantee you'll  _stay_ hidden; most of those teachers will start poking around in there because they need material for their upcoming exams. Mmm...should I try to hide you in the Swimming area? Wait, I can't. There is no way you'll stay hidden once you see that pool, you water-loving little monster." Teito snorted, ruffling the dog's head affectionately, "...Then...where should I-?"

"Oi, brat! Quit standing around daydreaming and let's go!" Teito blinked, spun around and saw Frau stand near the gate, which, would you know it, was actually open. Teito gaped at the sight while Calypso bounded out and ran around in circles just a few feet away, chasing her own tail.

"How did you...?"

"'Students are not permitted to leave the grounds during school grounds,  _unless_ accompanied by a teacher, citing reasons for absence on educational grounds.'" Frau smoothly recited as he followed Calypso, "Castor practically welded the rule book into my brain when I first arrived here." He continued, by means of explanation, "Annoying as hell, but it's dead useful in getting out of...trouble."

"So..."

"So, you're coming with me back to the Church where we can return this mangy mutt of yours, and in return, you have to help me research the  _majestic history of the Barsburg Church._ " Frau said.

"...Wait, what?"

"Look, let me make this simple. All you have to do is borrow a few books from the Church Library, related to the year it was built, the meaning behind the varying architectural stuff like the difference in mural art and stuff, etc. etc. etc." Frau said, "And this counts as a class assignment, because the Church had major ties to the German culture. You'll find out the rest in class."

"Ok." Teito nodded.

"Then let's go already, brat. I'd only managed to borrow you for about an hour and you have to make sure that that mutt isn't seen."

"I'm not a brat and she isn't a mutt." Teito replied hotly, "And she knows not to be seen."

"Riiight." Frau took another look at the decidedly-conspicuous dog.

"She's only like that with you for some reason." Teito said, "It's probably because she knows you aren't exactly the model teacher and won't rat her out or anything."

"Seriously? I go out of my way to save your ass and this is the thanks I get?"

"In case you haven't heard, I'm only a model student when it comes to my grades." Teito scoffed.

"Oho." Frau raised an eyebrow, "And why is that?"

"None of your fucking business. Let's go already, you were the one in such a big hurry." Teito said, stomping ahead of him. Calypso slunk ahead of him, surprisingly quieter than she was before. Frau stood there for a moment, then pocketed the cigarette box and the lighter he'd been carrying around all this while and mentally sighed.  _Looks like I won't be getting that smoke after all._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x


	5. Winter Sunshine

Papercuts

Chapter 5: Winter Sunshine

"We're lost."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not."

"We've walked around the same street. 5 times. That usually means we're lost."

"Just your imagination, kid. All the streets look the same in this District."

"Do they even have the same signposts?" Teito inquired in a mock-innocent tone, pointing to a white-coloured one where the words  _Chase Street_ were painted in red.

Frau didn't even bat an eye at it, simply answering, "There are three Chase Streets in this District."

"Do all three streets have a costume store with god-awful Victorian-era gowns hung at the windows?"

"It's the Seventh District, brat. The Seventh District has enough festivals in a month what most countries have in a year. Of course there are gonna be a few costume shops here and there."

"And all of them are painted in hot pink with  _Seventh Heaven_ splattered on a white sign in neon purple?" Teito deadpanned, "And are all of them installed in buildings where the windows have balconies painted in white, one of which has a green vine wound tightly around it and disappearing through the cracks in the wall?"

Frau stared at the boy, "...You seriously just made that up."

"Did not."

"Yes you did."

"No, I didn't. And there's your proof." Teito pointed towards the building they were just passing by, which was, admittedly a rather loud shade of pink. And which did have a white sign with Seventh Heaven painted in purple placed in a building with snow white balconies. And the window of which did display rather...shoddy dresses of the Victorian era with ratty-looking, mouldy yellow lace.

"...That wasn't there the last time I was here." Frau muttered.

Teito rolled his eyes and continued, "Point is, we've been walking on the same street for 10 minutes now."

"Says who?"

"...We just had this conversation 5 seconds ago."

"Did we now?" Frau grinned.

Teito opened his mouth, then closed it and shook his head. He sighed and whistled to the white dog in front of him, a warning for her to stay in his sight. She gave a hearty yip back as she padded on ahead, nose up in the air, smelling the strange mixture of smoke, perfume and baked bread.

"...One question, kid. Why'd you bring the mutt to school anyway? Was it some kind of prank or something?" Frau asked.  _Come to think of it, Malcolm Finch is supposed to be allergic to dog hair. And he's not exactly the most likeable English teacher I've seen so far..._

"I didn't bring her to school, she  _followed_ me." Teito sighed, "And no, I wouldn't go through the entire hassle of bringing her to school, just to keep her under the desk and order her to stay there for the whole English period and watch Finch-sensei sneeze his lungs out and puff up like a giant red balloon. Too troublesome."

"..."

"...What?"

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the dog turd that somehow managed to find its way inside the staff room, do you?"

"Nope."

"You're a horrible liar."

"Believe it or not, I didn't. Finch-sensei is notoriously easy to prank."

"And you know this how?"

"It wasn't me! Besides, I don't even own Calypso." Teito replied, looking away, "She stays at the Church with Cape-...the orphans there."

"She's attached to you, though."

Teito glared at him, "Why are you so interested all of a sudden?"

"Have you forgotten that I'm your homeroom teacher?"

"For a blissful 10 minutes." Teito muttered.

"The point is, that makes me accountable for each and every one of the kids in my class. And for the record, you haven't exactly been the poster child of studiousness lately."

Teito twitched visibly, "Not my fault."

"Do tell."

"They started it." Teito gritted out.

"Oh? And what'd they do to get a triple face-pounding from you, kid?"

"Nothing you want to hear."

"Didn't I just explain to you-"

"Yes, you just warbled on about how I'm some problem kid that you aren't getting paid enough to deal with." Teito said impatiently, then on seeing the look on Frau's face, "...Look. You can relax, it won't happen again."

"I'm more interested in why it happened then."

"And I thought my sessions with Castor-sensei were tiring." Teito whispered to himself. A low chuckle told him he hadn't been quiet enough, "What, that four-eyed freak sics his dolls on you too?"

"Dolls?" Teito repeated, perplexed. After a few seconds though, his expression cleared into one of recognition, "Oh, are you talking about those robot dolls he keeps making? No, he just...um, listens to me talk."

"Translation: 'He listens to me with that creepy-as-fuck half-grin on his face. Throughout the hour, he keeps that smile plastered in place, and gives me that sneaking suspicion I'm saying something wrong, but doesn't tell me if I am. And then, he draws the blinds when it's sunny outside and turns off every light in the room and sits behind his desk and  _smiles_ and says: "Where were we?' and makes me think he's some kind of freakish night-thing that shrinks heads and can strangle you with those minion dolls of his'."

Teito surprised them both with a snigger, "No, no. It's not like that. He really does listen to me. He keeps asking me a lot of questions though. But most of the people who go to him have that same opinion."

"Bah, it wasn't bad enough that you were a teacher's pet, brat? You have to be Glasses' pet too?"

"I'm not his pet."

"'And the blood-sucker used his head-shrinking powers on the poor, defenceless brat, turning him into a brain-dead ex-juvie that he uses to lead his army of plastic-boned minions. Minions that were once human, minions which were created by inserting the hearts of helpless virgins into hollow bodies...'" Frau intoned in the sort of voice reserved for low-budget horror movies.

"...Vampires flicks? Really?" Teito raised an eyebrow.

"No, it was mostly a mix between a zombie movie where the guy's girlfriend kept trying to bite his head off and an ancient-I'm talking way, way before colour TV ancient-vampire movie where this vampire dude kept ripping out the hearts of the people he sucked dry and kept them preserved in glass boxes hung above his coffin."

"You have too much free time."

"Nah. Mainly three days a week. The rest of 'em are...well, let's just say I'm too occupied to see them."

"Are you actually discussing your sex life with your student? Now?"

"Why do people automatically assume that I'm out banging some girl when I say I'm busy?" Frau asked irritably, "I have a job too, you know."

Teito just stared dubiously at him. "Don't tell me you heard the rumours too." Frau continued, giving the boy a  _look_.

"Maybe." Teito said, looking to the side.

Silence.

Sounds of footsteps and every now and then, a bark to make sure they remembered that the dog was still there.

Teito shivered slightly and pulled his hooded jacket tighter over his body. He drew his hands up to his face and breathed into them and Frau saw that they were bare and pale. In fact, the kid looked ill-equipped to be out in such a cold morning. That jacket, with the cross-stitch detail that made it look like it was worn inside-out, looked more like a black-dyed second skin than anything and underneath that jacket, he was wearing a simple green cotton shirt.

Teito looked up then, as if he'd sensed that he was watching him. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

Teito blinked, "Yeah, I am. Why?"

"...No reason."

Teito frowned, but Frau refused to elaborate the subject. They walked on, occasionally scanning the buildings for stores they haven't seen before and ducking down that road.

"What movies do you watch then?" Frau asked, more to break the silence than anything. Teito spun around and blinked at him bemusedly, "Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"...What movies do you watch...?" The boy repeated, looking at him uncertainly.

"I asked you first. Plus, you already have an idea of what I watch anyway." Frau said, although it seemed like Teito was repeating the question more to himself, as if he couldn't believe or quite understand the fact that the man was asking him something so ordinary.

"Well...the last movie I watched was around two months ago. I usually watch movies on TV, but Mikage insisted that I see that movie with him. It was a supernatural movie, based on an alternate universe where people have powers. Two countries were at war and the main protagonist is a slave from the defeated country. He went to army school only to discover that the captain there murdered his father and he was actually the prince of the dead kingdom. Or something." Teito scratched his head, "And...I think he fled the school and crash-landed in a Church? No...he crash-landed on somebody who brought him to the Church...and they sent his best friend after him, only he didn't want to and they set some kind of freaky mind-control on him, turning him into some kind of monster. The friend died to protect the main character..." At this point, the volume of Teito's voice dropped a little and he coughed, continuing, "Long story short, the rest of the movie was more of a journey for the boy to become a priest and travel the world to avenge this friend."

"That is one...different story."

"Yup, that was Mikage's reaction too." Teito snorted, "...When he could talk again, that is. He cried when the friend died. A lot." The boy shuddered, "He could've flooded the rats clean out of that place and that is  _not_ an exaggeration. People kept looking at me like I stole candy from him or something."

"Is this Mikage kid at the same school?"

"No...not really."

At this point, Frau stopped suddenly. Teito had walked a few more steps before he'd noticed. He spun around on his heel, still walking forward and said, "What's-"

That was about as much as he could get out of his mouth before his foot had struck something. Hard. The rest of his sentence had turned into a cry of pain which then turned into a cry of shock when he fell forwards right into a bright, golden light that made his heart stop as his eyes flickered towards it...

"Teito!"  
A strong hand pulled at his arm and yanked him out of the car's way. The momentum threw Teito behind and he landed on the sidewalk flat on his butt.

"Ow..." He winced.

"The hell were you trying to do?!" Frau demanded.

"Last I remember, I was walking." Teito snapped, flinching more when his foot twinged. Ok, his foot was doing a lot more than twinging. Goddamnit, he had enough pain to deal with on a daily basis! "Y'know walking? That thing you do with your feet? ~First, you lift your right foot, put it down. Then, you lift your left foot, put it down." He said the latter sentence in a sing-song voice as he slowly climbed back up into a standing position.

To his surprise, Frau laughed. A genuine laugh, not the snarky sort of one the boy'd been expecting. "Yeah, but why'd you keep going?" He shot back, as he watched Teito dust off his pants.

"I didn't know I was supposed to stop."

"Well, now you do."

"Big help." Teito said, rolling his eyes.

"Ok, so where now?" Frau asked, suddenly.

"Mm?"

"Where do we go from here, kid?" At Teito's blank stare, Frau elaborated, "You were the one harping about the fact that we were lost. So, do you know where to go next."

Teito stared ahead of them, as if his gaze could somehow bore a hole through the cotton-candy thick white floating in front of them, and muttered something in a voice too low for Frau to hear.

"...What?"

"I said, I  _don't know_  damnit!" Teito finally said in annoyance.

Frau's confused look morphed back into that stupid,  _stupid_ cocky grin of his; that damned crooked smile that flaunted as much teeth as possible, whose absurd angle which brought a surprisingly child-like quality to that sharp-chin face.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. I don't know this area."

"Then how do you know that-"

"I just know, ok?" Teito cut him off, "I've passed by the Church enough to know the routes. And this is not one of them."

Frau just grinned some more, but didn't push the subject. "Hmm...then where do we head now?" He asked finally, adopting a more thoughtful expression, "It's not like we can keep wandering around here until school starts. We have to drop that mutt of yours off."

 _Thank you for stating the obvious, Captain Obvious._ "Yeah, but at this point, I don't think we have a choice." Teito said, "Calypso!" He called to the dog, "Don't wander off too fa-" Again, his sentence was abruptly cut-off by a wince.

This did not go unnoticed by Frau. "Hey." He said, in a much less gruff tone. Upon seeing the way the boy was gingerly holding his foot above the sidewalk, he asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea?" Teito asked with an expression on his face that was intended to be anguished, but ended up looking absolutely hilarious to Frau. Something must've shown on the man's face, because Teito gave him a scorching glare, "Yeah, I also find it incredibly funny that I just banged my foot on..." He looked back at the thing he'd hit and paused for a while as he realised what he was seeing, "...a telephone pole?"

"Yup. Or to be more accurate, a telephone pole with no wires attached." Frau pointed at a ditch to his left, "I think it was supposed to be set up there during the night, but for whatever reason, they hadn't done it yet." At Teito's questioning look, he continued, "You'd be surprised at how much you can learn in different Districts."  
Teito nodded, then carefully tested his foot against the plaster again, wincing less slightly this time. "Can you walk, kid?"

"Yeah. It just took me by surprise. I'll be fine."

_Breathe through the pain._

" _ **It'll be fine!"**_

_A smiling face blocked out the sun above, staring back at those perplexed green eyes that regarded him with something close to wonder._

" _...What?"  
_

_Mikage frowned at Teito and pulled at the boy's right arm, grinning wickedly when the smaller boy gasped and flinched. **"I know you broke your arm. Don't even bother hiding it."**_

" _Mikage." Teito slowly growled the name, stretching it to three syllables, "When you know that a person's arm is broken, you're not supposed to tug on that same broken arm! It hurts. A. Lot!"_

" _ **Yeah, but I had to check if it was true, didn't I?"**_

" _Why the hell would I lie about a broken arm?"_

" _ **I dunno. To get all the attention from the girls around here, maybe? But that reminds me."** Mikage took Teito's arm again, this time by the overlong sleeve instead of grasping the limb directly,  **"Why are you hiding it? You're lucky I knew about it, but if people don't know you're injured and they treat you normally, won't that be a problem?"  
**_

_Teito looked away, "I don't want them to know about it."_

" _ **Keep it up for however long you want. Sooner or later, people will find out about it."**_

" _...How did you know?" Teito asked finally, looking away from his best friend._

_A sharp thwack on his head pulled his attention back to Mikage. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"_

" _ **Asking a stupid question, stupid!"** Mikage declared, pouting at him. Seeing Teito's glare, he hurried on with his explanation,  **"Of course I would know! I'm your best friend! Ask me what I don't know about you!"**_

" _...My shoe size?"_

" _ **Size 10."**_

" _My weakest subject?"  
_

" _ **Art. Hate to say this Teito, but kindergarten kids draw better than you."** That statement earned Mikage another glare before Teito continued, "What about my favourite food then?"_

" _ **Hah. Too easy. Waffles. You keep gorging on the things every time you visit me." Mikage said.**_

" _Mikage, there's a difference between being my best friend and being my stalker."_

" _ **Well, I can't help it if you're so darn cute!"**_

" _I'm not cute!" Teito protested hotly. Blushing just a little doing it, but he'd be damned if he let Mikage see it._

" _ **Yes, you are! You're pretty like a girl. But that's not the point."** Mikage said, waving his hand as if to physically swat away the "kill-you-dead" look that Teito's glare had evolved into,  **"The point is that you shouldn't hide things from your best friend. Especially things like this."** Mikage's face softened into a genuine smile,  **"I know what a pain in the neck these things can be. Heck, when I fractured my wrist, I swear to God I would've gone insane if you hadn't been there with me."**_

" _It's not my fault you're such a horrible patient." Teito sighed. "You should be thankful that hospitals can't ban people because that evil eye the nurses were giving you could've burnt a hole through the thick cement-plastered roof."_

" _ **It's not my fault that hospitals are so boring."** Mikage shrugged,  **"So, don't even bother hiding such things next time, ok?"**_

_Teito remained mute, staring at anywhere but Mikage._

" _ **It's alright to depend on someone else, Teito."** Mikage said gently. That sweet, idiotic grin that was ever present on the boy's face had melded with the soft, gentle look in his eyes into an understanding smile.  **"Even if it's just for a little while, depend on me."**_

" _Mikage..."_

" _ **The pain's not as bad if you have someone to lean on. You were the one who taught me that, remember?"** Mikage continued. He frowned a bit as if a thought had occurred to him and then, his face brightened,  **"And when I'm not there, and if the pain's really bad, then just remember this. Just breathe through the pain,"** He closed his eyes himself, as if enacting the action for him,  **"And smile."**_

" _Well, that should be easy to do, considering the amount of pain medication they give me." Teito said dryly, "You don't even want to know what kind of weird dreams I have when I'm on those."_

_**"Ehhh? What kind of dreams do you have?"** _

_"Not telling."_

_**"Wah! No fair! I'm really curious now! C'mon, tell me already!"** _

_"Nope."_

_**"Aw, Teito! Please? You know it keeps me up at night when there's something I don't know and I'm dying to know what!"  
** _

_"Yes. Yes, I do." Teito answered smugly._

_**"...Unless...gack! Wow, Teito! I didn't know you were that kind of guy..."** _

_"What the hell are you thinking about, you perverted idiot?"_

_**"Hehe...I'm not telling!"** _

_"Mikage!"_

_**"Hahaha! Not telling yooooooouuuuu!"  
** _

_"Real mature, Mikage." Teito sighed, feeling the inevitable smile creep up his lips._

_**"Still not telling you, Teito!"** _

_**Teito.** _

_Teito._

"Teito!"

"...Huh?" Teito blinked. Did someone call him just now?

"Joined the land of the living, kid?" Frau was actually waving a hand in front of his face. And, Teito noticed, it was dangerously close to thwacking his nose.

"I didn't realize I left it." Teito said, drawing his face away. Frau's lopsided grin made another brief appearance as he said, "Kinda figured. Anyway, you can keep moving right?"

"I just said that one flashback ago, stupid teacher." Teito muttered, too low for Frau to hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Teito said, smiling innocently at Frau, "Absolutely nothing at all."

"Well, try not to moan and groan too much kid. It's the crack of fucking dawn and I don't want to get any crap about 'disturbing the peace' of the people in this neighbourhood with your whining." That wiped the smile right off the boy's face, "You don't have to worry about a thing,  _sensei._ "

However, five minutes in, Teito did make a rather loud...'groan'. Just not the kind Frau was expecting.

"What the hell, brat?"

"It wasn't me!" Teito protested, even as his stomach made another noise that sounded less like a growl and more like the kind often heard when a car skidded on the street.

"When was the last time you ate, brat?"

"Half an hour ago."  _Skree-grrrooooowwwwl._

"Right."

"I did!"

"A slice of lemon and two pieces of toast a meal does not make, kid."

"...Why a slice of lemon of all things?"

"I dunno. It was catchy?" When Teito's stomach voiced yet another complaint, the boy just wrapped his arms around it and said resolutely, "Let's go."

"Yep." Frau replied. And without further ado, he whistled, calling Calypso over, grabbed the back of Teito's jacket and proceeded to drag the boy away from the sidewalk and into a nearby café.

"Wha-? Wait, wait are you doing?! Let go of me!"

"Nope." Frau said, as he pushed the door open. The soft tinkle of tiny silver bells announced their arrival.

"Why not?!"

"Don't you have two continuous classes with me today? They're before lunch and I really don't think everyone'll be able to hear me over  _that._ " He pointed to Teito's mid-section. "...I don't have any money." Teito said finally, "It's fine. Just let me go."

"It ain't fine for me if my ears bleed out, kid."

"Oh come on. It's not that loud!"

"Au contraire. Tell me you aren't hearing that too." Frau said this last part to a caramel-skinned young woman with dark hair. She nodded and smiled apologetically to Teito, who was gawking at her with a rather distraught expression.

"Was that French? I thought you were my German teacher." Teito said sulkily, as Frau dragged him to one of the chairs by the window.

"Along with German, I do know French, Dutch and Japanese." Frau listed smoothly. Teito shot him a disbelieving look, childish pout still in place. "Hey, is it ok if I bring the dog in here?" Frau asked, turning back to the woman behind the counter. She looked doubtfully at Calypso, who was waiting patiently outside.

"Depends. Is she house-trained?"

"Well, kid?"

"Yes, she is."

"Ok. As long as she doesn't make a mess in here."

"I'll get her. Kid, what do you want to eat?"

"Nothing."

"We are not stepping out of here until you eat something."

"..."

"What, you think I'm joking? Hey, miss, what are the timings-"

Teito murmured something then. It was inaudible, but Frau was quite certain he heard the word...

"What?"

"...I'd like some waffles please. With maple syrup and strawberries."

"Coming right up." She said, "Anything else?"

Teito looked at Frau, who replied, "Nah, I'm good." The waitress nodded and walked away.

"You're the one buying something from here, don't you want to eat anything?" Teito asked, as he took his seat. Frau shrugged, "Nah, not really. I'm not hungry."

"Oh." Teito looked down, fidgeting with one of the napkins.

"Kid, I'm the one who dragged you in here. You don't feel guilty."

"Wh-who says I'm feeling guilty?" Teito said hotly, wrenching that poor paper napkin even tighter into a kind of twisted rope, "I-I just think it's a waste of time, that's all."

Frau made a 'tch' sound and shook his head, all the while holding a superior sort of smile. Teito narrowed his eyes at the man, "What now?"

"For someone so incredibly smart, I'm surprised you don't see opportunities passing right under your nose." Frau said. At Teito's confused expression he continued, "Here, in a café with so many people around, we have ample opportunity to ask directions to the Church. Unless there are 12 people in this town that don't know left from right in this town."

Teito's eyes flickered from one person to another, and Frau could practically see the cogs turning around in the boy's mind as he tallied the number of people there.

"There are 11 people here...hey!" Teito's eyes flicked back accusingly towards Frau, who chuckled and said, "In case you haven't noticed, Teito, I'm not exactly the best at following directions. You, at least, know your town well enough to figure out the route we were following wouldn't lead us to the Church."

Teito's fingers, which were absorbed in folding and bending the now-extremely crumpled tissue between them, slackened their grip. His lips quirked into a kind of sad smile, which just as quickly reverted back to a frowning face, "This isn't my town."  _It never will be._ "I moved in here some time ago."  _Too long ago. Too long since I've been here._

"Alright then." Frau said, tilting his head to the side, grinning that inane grin again.

"Alright what?"

"Since you were a newcomer like me once, that makes it your job to show me the place here."

"...Are you nuts?" Teito asked, though it was more of a question than an actual statement.

"All the locals think I'm some kind of dirt-bike riding, gun-toting rebel leader who can't keep his dick in his pants and can drink people under the table to the point where they get hangovers that last a week. As you can imagine, that doesn't exactly make them run towards me with arms wide open. And the town's changed a lot since the last time I was here."

"...So you're telling me you're not that guy?"

"Do you always act like a fucking brat when you're starving?"

Teito opened his mouth to answer when something caught his eye. He blinked, frowned, then said, "Wait a minute, is that...?"

"Teito nii-chan!" A sweet, high voice called out, followed by a laugh that sounded like wind-chimes fluttering in the breeze.

"Capella?" Teito said, as if he couldn't believe who he was seeing, "Lazette?"

"Nii-chan! I'm so happy to see you!" What appeared to be a white rabbit shot through the room right towards the teen, who'd stood up as he called those names and hurtled itself right at the boy's mid-section. The white tornado was closely followed by a girl with long, violet-pink hair, who ducked through the gap between the boy and the table and popped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest and pulling him into a hug, giggling.

"Ack...good t-...to see you too." Teito managed to breathe out. His normally pale complexion had gone a lovely shade of brilliant red, "Um, c-can't breathe..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The bundle of white had loosened its death-grip on Teito and stood back and Frau saw that it was actually a very young, fair-haired boy with wide blue eyes practically drowning in the clothes he was wearing; white sweater with a small silver cross on the chest and white pants. The girl had loosened her grip on Teito as well and was the first to look at the table. Her eyes widened when she saw Frau.

Frau spoke first, "Wait a second...aren't you Four-eyes' Lazette? Castor?"

She nodded.

"What are you two doing here? Weren't you staying with your mother, Capella?" Teito asked.

"Lazette nee-chan works here on weekdays." Capella answered brightly, "And mama had to go back to the big white building again, so she sent me to live with Liam nii-chan and the others. Nee-chan brought me here so I could try her pancakes."

Frau was watching Teito as Capella chattered happily to the boy. At the mention of Capella's mother, Teito's eyes had darkened even as the smile stayed in place.

"I see."

"Eh?" Capella jerked a little when he felt soft, warm fur brush against him and when he looked down, "Calypso! Nii-chan, Calypso's here too!"

Teito laughed, a genuine laugh that made the boy look about as young as Capella, "Yeah. Calypso followed me to school today."

"But, she's not supposed to do that, ne nii-chan?"

"No, she isn't. Me and my...sensei were free, so he decided we could drop her off back at the Church."

"Oh."

"So you work here now, Lazette?" Teito asked. The girl nodded, smiling. "That's good to hear! Castor-san mentioned that you'd been wanting a part-time job for a while now."

She turned a bright shade of pink and made an embarrassed sound.

"Apparently, Castor-san doesn't think you're a grown woman now." Teito said. He'd appeared to have interpreted her response correctly, as Lazette sighed, her mouth curling up into a pout.

Teito laughed again. "Lazette, even if you turn 51, Castor-san will still think you're his baby sister. He's a lost cause."

She smiled back, an exasperated sort of smile even as her eyes shined in clear adoration of her taciturn big brother.

"Don't worry, he's too busy making our lives hell to focus on you now." Frau added. Lazette sighed and made scissoring motions with her fingers, cocking her head to the side, a questioning expression in her eyes.

"Labrador-san is fine." Teito said, "And yes, he's been making sure Castor has time to eat in-between. He's been meaning to ask Castor-san to show you his gardens for a while now. He knows how much you love bluebells."

She laughed and clapped her hands excitedly. Then, she paused and looked behind her, towards the counter. Her eyes faintly apologetic, she motioned towards it.

"No, it's ok. Go back to work. I'll talk to you later." Teito said. She nodded and made her way back towards the kitchen.

"Capella, have you just moved back in the Church?" Teito questioned.

"Mm!" Capella nodded, his face aglow with happiness, "I just saw Liam nii-chan and Ouida nii-chan! Oh, and I've also seen Sister Athena, Sister Libelle and Sister Rosalie!"

Just then, the girl they'd spoken with earlier placed Teito's order on the table, smiled at them and said, "Enjoy your meal!"

"Oh, am I interrupting, onii-chan?"

"No, no. We're just taking a break."

"But doesn't onii-chan have school after this?" Capella frowned a little, then brightened as he looked back up, "I know! I'll take her back, onii-chan!"

Teito looked back at him uncertainly, "Are you sure? She might be a bit too much to handle for you...heck, there are some days I can't manage her."

"Me and onee-chan are walking back to the Church after nee-chan's shift is over." Capella informed him, "We can take her, onii-chan!"

"Well..."Teito's eyes flickered back to Frau, who shrugged and said, "Up to you."

"Ok. But just call me if you have any problems with her, Lazette gave you her cell right?" Capella nodded, "Fine. Calypso, you go with Capella when he and Lazette leaves, ok?" Calypso woofed in response and licked the little boy's face. Capella giggled as he said, "See you, onii-chan!" and ran back to Lazette, the dog prancing after him.

Teito looked on as they went, a faint smile still lingering at his lips. He noticed some movement from the corner of his eye, and directed his gaze back to the table, only to see Frau busily cutting a piece of the topmost waffle off.

"Oi! What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"That's mine!"

"This plate's been sitting on this table for ten seconds and no-one's hacked into it yet. That's a real crime right there." Frau said, as he successfully took a piece, even as Teito snatched the plate back.

"You don't just take other people's food, you jerk!"

"Hoh...then try and take it back, you brat." Without further ado, he opened his mouth and was about to shove the waffle piece inside-

-when a thin, pale hand reached out and clamped around the man's wrist-

-pulled at it with surprising strength-

-and finally managed to direct the fork to Teito's mouth instead, upon which he promptly closed it.

Frau just stared at him as Teito glared back, pulling the now-waffle-less fork back out. Then he burst out laughing.

"You did it!" He chortled at a mortifyingly loud volume, "You actually did it! You stole back the food from me! Fucking hell, kid!"

"Stop laughing!" Teito demanded, his cheeks turning bright red. He let go of the man's hand like it had burned his fingers. Frau shook his head, still laughing for a full two minutes before he'd quieted down.

"You are seriously a piece of work. Especially where food is concerned."

Teito shrugged, "I like waffles."

"Funnily enough, I got that."

"It's rude to take someone else's food."

"You were the one making a big deal of not wanting anything to eat." Frau pointed out. Teito blushed even more, before saying, "...Those waffles looked too perfectly good to waste."

"So me eating them is wasting them?"

"Yes. No. I don't know!" Teito snapped finally. Frau grinned, "It's fine already. Dig in. Or I will." He added at the end. Teito hesitated for only a few seconds more before he did just that. And then some.

"This being the same brat who did everything short of dragging me away from this place." Frau commented. Teito ignored him and continued to scarf down the waffles at an inhuman pace, starting with the strawberries on the side when he'd done with them.

When the kid had finished, Frau could practically see him deflate in a sort of relieved satisfaction.

"That was good."

"I got that too."

Instead of the usual smart-ass reply that Teito would normally give him at this point, Teito looked him straight in the eye and said, "Thanks for the meal.", with absolutely no hesitation.

Frau was surprised, but he kept it from showing on his face. "No problem."

Teito looked out the window. The fog had cleared up some, and if he peered hard enough through the glass, he could just see snatches of forget-me-not blue sky. "We should get going now, or they'll notice that we're gone."  
"I thought you didn't care much for the rules, kid."

"That was when I had a hyperactive dog at my heels. Not now."

"So, you admit she's hyperactive?"

Teito snorted, "Come on. Let's pay at the counter and leave already."

"Right, right. So impatient. That kind of attitude will make girls steer clear of you. Unless...you aren't interested in them?"

Teito's mouth fell open as the blush, which had faded from his face mere seconds ago returned in full force, "Are you seriously questioning my sexuality right now?!"

"So that's a yes?"

"NO!"

"Hmm."

"Wha-what was with that reply?!"

"What was with what reply?" Frau asked, feigning a clueless look, "I didn't say anything."

Teito stuttered incoherently for a while before he realised it really,  _really_ wasn't doing anything to support his argument and settled for thwacking the idiot sensei right on the head.

"Geh! What the-?!"

"Stupid idiot perverted teacher! Go die and rot in a hellhole!" Teito spat at him, running out of the door like the hounds of fucking hell were after him. Frau watched him go, raising a hand to prod at the sore spot on his head and wincing in response.

"Maybe that was a bit too much." He acquiesced, "Ah, whatever. Not like he held me in high regard anyway." And inexplicably, he felt a smile tug at his face for the nth time that day.

_Looks like things won't be so humdrum here after all._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x


	6. Downward Spiral

** Trigger Warnings: Self-harm   
**

Papercuts

Chapter 6: Downward Spiral

"I'm home."

Silence.

Teito paused halfway through unlacing his boots and looked up. Even standing just a few feet away from the door, he could see a faint trace of black to the left of the entrance.

The hallway lights were off?

Teito looked down and resumed pulling at the laces until he'd finally[somehow] managed to pry those stubborn knots free and eased out of his boots. He placed them next to the shoe-rack and walked to the side of the entrance, stopping just a few feet in front of the hallway.

Through the pitch-black dark, he could just make out the wooden rims of the doorways leading to the hall, the kitchen and the servants' quarters.

All of the doors were open.

All of the rooms were dark.

The house...was empty.

A lone white switch panel was to his right, and even in the inky darkness it gleamed with that same brand-new sheen that he'd come to recognize while living in that mansion. That borrowed brand-new sheen that left behind raw, red hands and a worn washcloth, and all the while they worked, a serene smile that always, always held vestiges of pain.

He turned his gaze away from the switch and continued unlacing his boots, tugging at them once they were completely free of knots. His fingers inadvertently paused in their task when a jolt of pain shook free from his ankle and shot through his leg. Surprise took over expectancy, and he gasped out loud.

"Urgh!"  _Damn it. It's worse than I thought._  He braced himself and pulled off his left boot and sock, grimly surveying the damage. His fingers probed at the foot warily,  _It doesn't feel like it's broken...ouch!_ Hehissed as his fingers passed over his ankle, causing the same bolt of pain.  _Nothing's broken, but I do have a sprain. Great._ The last thing he needed right now was a noticeable injury, a clear sign that something was wrong with him. And as per usual, that was exactly what the Fates have given him.

_...I need some ice._

He tugged off his other boot and sock, took in a deep breath, and raised his arm towards the wall, pulling himself up. He cried out softly as his ankle voiced its protest, but didn't stumble. He forced his breathing to slow down into a steady, deep state as he limped up the two steps separating the doorway and the still-dark hallway. He reached over and flicked the light switch on, looking back to the hallway as soon as the metallic buzzing of the tube-lights above.

Nothing.

Empty.

Teito paused for only a millisecond more, before he lowered his head and ducked in the room closest to him.

The servants' quarters.

The lights in here were slower to come, and when it did, it dimmed mere seconds after it had been turned on.

A bed. A tiny mini-fridge. A bathroom. A window with white curtains and a bedside table with the white paint peeling off in some corners.

No Kurena.

Teito made his way over to the mini-fridge and pulled the top door open. He took out an ice-tray, fished out his handkerchief and deposited some ice-cubes into it. He replaced the ice-tray, closed the topmost fridge door and opened the bottom one, where he pulled out a lemon slice. He closed that door, turned off the lights and exited the room.

Slowly, almost of their own accord, his hands moved towards his jacket pocket, touching lightly the corner of a small piece of paper, folded several times over into a small chit, one which contained hastily scribbled words of regret and promise.

And care. For him.

_**Master Teito,** _

_**I'll be away for a few days, as I must attend to the needs of my aged mother. I regret not having to informed you sooner, but I'd received news of her illness only moments ago and with Master Ayanami's permission, I have chosen to set forth for the town of my birth.** _

_**-Kurena** _

The letter didn't end there. Under her name, Kurena had written out several more words, but had crossed them out vigorously, almost viciously to hide what she had written. Except for the last three.

_**Please take care.** _

_Take care._

_You leave suddenly, without a word to me except for a frantically written note about seeing your mother, when just days before, you'd commented that she was as hale and hearty as ever._

_And you expect_ me  _to 'take care'?_

 _What did he say to you this time, Kurena?_ Teito thought as he silently exited the room and made his way to his own,  _What haven't you told me?_

_**The same things you haven't told her.** _

Teito paused mid-step.

_She doesn't need to know._

_**You mean, you don't want her to know.** _

_...No. I don't._

_**Why?** _

Step.

_She doesn't need to know._

Step.

_**Are you afraid of what she'll think of you? When she finds out?** _

Halt.

If  _she finds out. Which she won't._

_**Are you really that desperate to keep your dirty little secret under wraps?** _

"She doesn't need to get herself involved!"

The echoes of his outburst fled towards the safety of the shadows in the house, as if they too feared their owner and his anger, what the combination could do to them.

"She doesn't need to get involved in all this." He repeated, with quiet finality as he started walking again in the gloomy corridor, "She doesn't need to drown herself in this darkness. She doesn't need to turn herself into a monster too."

 _**You mean you don't want her to** _ _._

"...Yes I mean that." The door creaked loudly as he made his way through. He closed the door, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd already had a long, dragging day at school; he really didn't need to put up with the shit that his own mind seemed to be throwing at him.

But it was better than the quiet silence of this house. The quiet, quiet silence that seemed to echo deafeningly in his ears, the quiet before the storm, the horrendous, cruel-eyed storm that bruised and battered him, broke him and poisoned him slowly.

 _...It's cold._ He snapped on the light and dumped his bag on the floor before flopping onto the bed gratefully. He lay there on the hard, unyielding mattress, soaking up the relief from freeing his ankle from the unwelcome weight, staring at the bleached, white ceiling. Fatigue from the long, long day mercilessly pulled at his muscles and bones into the cocoon of hard mattress and starched sheets. His eyelids felt incredibly heavy and the mattress seemed to be growing softer and softer with every second...

_**"Are you running away?"** _

_**"Running away from your responsibilities?"** _

_**"It's your mess, clean it up Klein."  
** _

_**Hands fisting in his hair, the cold, impure feeling of poison travelling up his being as that touch, too familiar for his liking snaked up his skin and settled on his wrist, before clawing at it with a grip as hard as steel.** _

_**"No-one will ever save you."** _

Teito's eyes flew open and he abruptly sat up, crying out when the movement shook his ankle. " _Fuck, ow!"_ He hissed. The glare of the setting sun burned against his eyes, and he closed them reflexively.

 _...Did I fall asleep?_ If he did, it may have only been for a few minutes. He squinted at the windows, the bloody light dancing solemnly on the curtains before turning back towards his aching ankle. He scooted over towards the pillow side of the bed as gently as he could without moving his ankle, before he reached over and grabbed his med-kit from the bedside table. He opened the kit and pulled out a roll of bandages and some pins, his hands tending to the injury with practiced, almost automatic movements.

Once he was done, he reached out again and pulled at the chair near his desk, dragging it to the side of the bed, before stacking his pillows on it and finally his ankle on the makeshift elevation ensemble. He tied a knot on his dripping handkerchief, and kept it balanced on his ankle, shivering when fresh tendrils of cold travelled up his leg.

_At least if my foot's cold enough, I won't feel the pain anymore._

_**And that is**_ **exactly** _ **what you want. Is it not?**_ The sarcastic thought slipped from his mind almost unwillingly, but Teito ignored it. He shrugged off his backpack and started rifling through it, absently sucking on the lemon slice.

 _Now where did I put my history book? It has to be in here somewhere..._ Something plastic rustled under his fingertips. Something small. A slight frown appeared on his face as he tugged at the object, which seemed to be wedged between two of his thicker, bulkier books. A few minutes later, Teito finally pulled it free and gazed at the tiny object in his hand.

It was a receipt. From the shop that idiot teacher had made them stop at that morning.

He just stared at the paper for what felt like an eternity, before he crumpled it up into a small ball and chucked it at the waste-basket. It bounced off the rim and landed a few feet away.

Teito searched through his back again and found his history book this time. He opened to the index page, and his finger had barely traced the page numbers of the first few titles before it stilled, and he caught himself looking at the white ball that stared back at him from across the room.

He made a slight motion, as if to push himself off the bed and into a standing position, eyes still on the crumpled white receipt.

To k-...throw it. Throw it away.

He paused, tearing his gaze away and settled back down into a sitting position.  _My feet hurt more than a little to even consider trying to walk anyway._

 _That's rich, coming from the world's greatest fucking martyr._ Teito leaned against the wall, history book on his lap and slowly closed his eyes. He blanked out his mind, shutting off the less-than-savoury sentences that his asshole of a mind shot one after the other at him and focused on one sound.

Or rather the lack of it.

He focused on the silence that enveloped his being like a thick, woollen blanket. His arms pricked with even more goosebumps than before, as he heard the slight rattle of the frigid nightly wind on the glass-window pane, slow shivers travelling down his spine, racking it with a fiery chill that had may have had something to do with the bitingly sour taste of the lemon slice.

_It was quiet._

And somehow, the statement sounded loud, excessively loud in his mind, as if he'd shouted the words into the outside world with the strength of every last shred of air in his lungs. He wrapped his arms around himself again, willing himself to settle into calm.

_It was quiet._

_I don't like the quiet._

Even as he started reading words about long-dead civilisations and stories of heroes that seemed more angel-or more devil-than man, he could feel the dread that crept through his being, poisoning him slowly from the inside, breaking any and all illusions that he tried to hold around him.

_When it's too quiet, I start to think._

_And then, when my mind falls silent..._

He turned sideways and leaned against the wall, a breath escaping him in a groan, sounding much too loud against the stark, breakable silence.

"When it's finally quiet around here, I don't feel like studying anything."

_When my mind falls silent, I can feel the darkness poisoning my being._

Another exhale. And another.

The pain is all that holds him. Holds him to the bed, the room, the house, the very earth of the District.

_And I lose myself._

"This sucks."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x

"No matter how much it may suck, you still have to do it."

"I don't wanna..."

Castor pushed his glasses up his nose with a little more force than was necessary. He'd been considered something of a pioneer in the field of psychology, having delved deep into the realm of the human mind to cure patients that all other psychologists wouldn't even think of treating, written books on his findings that have been assigned as official textbooks for those applying for the subject, even travelled to other countries holding lectures and televised talk-shows on the subject.

All that intelligence, acquired over all those long hard years of trying to understand exactly what went through that extremely complex, sensitive, and incredibly fascinating organ called the human brain, and the man still had absolutely no idea how it was even possible that a grown man could be so childish to the point of even looking like one while resorting to delinquent behaviour.

"You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for this job, Frau." Castor said finally, breaking his stare-down with his friend to turn his attention back to the alarmingly large bundle-...bundles, he corrected as a harried-looking Maya-sensei dumped another bundle on the large conference table, eliciting yet _another_ groan from Frau-on his desk-of paperwork that had been commanding his attention for the past half hour.

He didn't even know what Frau was complaining about. Usually, the staff at Barsburg Academy would be having a far-worse situation during mid-term week. Castor supposed that those new scheduling systems that Mrs Lancaster had applied this year were having at least some effect on the workload.

It made for much more shorter dead-lines though.

"Cheer up, Frau. It's just a little more until the day ends." Labrador piped up. Frau turned to glare at the medical attendant, "...It's easy for you to say that, Lab,  _you_ don't even have that much to do!" He complained.

"On the contrary. I must start on those forms that the Education Board has sent me, and perform the students' semesterly check-ups, as well as having to meet with the school inspector for a separate interview regarding the medical safety of the students and to voice my opinion as to whether or not the facilities I have been provided with are satisfactory or not. All those events added up make for a rather draining week." Lab sighed, "At least, there is little to do in my garden this time of year."

"See? You're not the only one. Now stop complaining. With any luck, you'll be able to make a dent in that paperwork before the week ends. Which, if I may remind you is our deadline."

"Urgh. Now I know why you're so pissy all the time." Frau muttered, plucking off the topmost sheet on the bundle. He squinted at it, "...Is this even English?"

Castor pulled the sheet from the man's fingers. "It isn't supposed to be, Frau. It's German. Which you teach to high-school students on a daily basis and constantly bemoan about."

"I know." Frau grinned, "Just messin' with ya." On spotting the look on Castor's face, he swiped the paper back from the man and snorted, "Lighten up, Glasses. Keep it up any longer and you'll have a coronary."

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Will you quit asking me that?" Frau said irritably, "I actually do know what it means. Don't believe me, ask Lab. The guy's been going all med-journal on me every time I visit him."

"My office becomes quite busy during mid-term week." Labrador said, by way of explanation, "However, most of the students come to me with faked illnesses, looking for a medical certificate so they can skip school for a few days and study for the exams. I regret to say that I've made it something of a habit to drill into their heads the actual symptoms of the disease that they have, at that time, portrayed in a...not entirely pleasant manner." **[1]**

"You should've seen what he said to the guy with shingles." Frau shuddered.

"They usually stay away from my office after that. Well, the seniors anyway. I believe it has been made into an initiation ritual of sorts, seeing as how I keep getting 'sick' students every year who seem to be freshman."

"I just think you're having a bad influence on him, Glasses."

"Look who's talking. Ever since you came here, the disciplinary committee's had their hands full with out-of-control students, petty fighting, vandalism, lock-pickers, cheaters and all other types of hooligan behaviour. They're at their wits' end what with the duties they have to perform and the messes they have to clean up."

"It's all part of the duties of the committee, sir. Nothing that the committee can't handle."

Frau looked up and saw what appeared to be a talking pile of paperwork. That is, until he noticed the arms that were supporting the stack somewhere near the bottom, showing just a little strain under the weight of the pile. The figure moved towards Castor's end of the desk and dumped the stack unceremoniously onto the table, finally revealing the carrier: a pale boy with long, blond hair and the imperious kind of attitude that usually accompanied people of authority.

"Ah, Oak-kun." Castor said, sparing the boy just a quick glance before returning to his work, "I trust that this is the paperwork Tanaka-sensei entrusted you to give me?"

"Yes, sensei. I was also told to inform you that Mrs. Lancaster and the rest of the teaching staff would require your assistance with the upcoming Sports Day event."

"Ah, yes. Would you mind carrying a response back to them?" Castor didn't even pause to let the boy shake his head, let alone verbalise a reply, "Tell them that I have every intention of answering their beck and call and going back and forth between them and the Education Board like the loyal dog they take me to be, when I'm not spending the entirety of my existence filling and signing this blasted paperwork they expect me to finish. Oh, and that they really need better scheduling techniques."

The boy called Oak, to his credit, barely reacted to the message and its contents, save for a small, tired smile twitching at his lips, "As is the case every year, sensei."

"Why do they give you so much paperwork, anyway?" Frau asked, "You're not even a real teacher."

"Yes and no." Labrador answered, "Castor is a counsellor here, and also acts as the Vice-principal of the academy. They require his help arranging for the school's necessities and dealing with the Education Board, seeing as he was one of its members. Up until...very recently."

"Two years ago." Castor said, in a tone that invited no further conversation.

"...Um...who are you?" Oak asked, having just noticed Frau sitting at the teacher's desk.

"Oh, that's right! Hakuren-kun has been absent since the beginning of the semester, so he hasn't seen you here, Frau." Labrador said, "This is Frau-sensei. He'll be replacing Kyouya-sensei for homeroom for class 3-A, and is teaching German. Frau, this is Hakuren Oak." A flash of recognition in Frau's eyes, quickly stamped out when Labrador gave him a pointed look, "He'll be in your class for the rest of the semester."

"So, you're the student council president?" The boy was wearing casual clothes like the rest of the students but he had a black armband with the Barsburg coat-of-arms decked in gold on one sleeve of his sweater and he was wearing a student id card on a cord attached to his neck.

"Yes, sensei." Hakuren nodded, analysing Frau with new, sharp eyes. Frau returned the stare casually, holding it until Hakuren looked away uncomfortably, "Um...please take care of me during the semester. Castor-sensei, Labrador-sensei, if you don't mind...?"

"Not at all. I wouldn't deprive you of your lunch hour." Castor said, and Labrador nodded, smiling. Hakuren returned the nod tersely before stepping out of the staff room. Once the door closed behind him, he let out a weary sigh.

"Either way, I would have my lunch hour occupied." He muttered. Being absent for nearly three weeks had cost him and even bringing the work home and staying up for three nights in a row still left quite the workload. It was all he could do to stay awake in classes, because as student council president, he had to set an  _example,_ damn it.

 _Well, standing here brooding is not going to get any work done._ Even though every single atom of his body was begging for just five more minutes of rest-or better yet, boarding up the stupid office and never, ever,  _ever_ setting foot in that godforsaken room as long as he lived-Hakuren reluctantly started making his way back to the student council room.

Although it was lunch hour now, the corridors were mostly deserted. This was quite an anomaly, but then again, it was the first clear day in the Seventh District in months-with actual sun and everything; you could even go so far as to say there wasn't a cloud in sight-and the students were making every use of the opportunity.

Of course, that only just added to Hakuren's foul mood.

But it was his own fault. And while he regretted staying at home for so long, he could never regret the reason why he made such a sudden decision.

Never.

He was so involved in his own thoughts, he almost didn't notice that someone was standing near the lockers, directly in his path. Almost.

"What are you doing in here?"

The student looked up and glared at him. And of course, Hakuren knew who it was. He doubted that there was a single soul in this school who didn't know who Teito Klein was.  
For all the wrong reasons.

"Studying." Klein replied curtly, and he was indeed rifling through his lockers for some book or the other. Hakuren blinked, "Inside?"

"Yes. Last I checked, that doesn't exactly go against the school rules or anything."

"I wasn't implying that you were breaking any rules. I was just...surprised."

Teito rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the locker.

"I could do without the attitude, Klein."

"And I could do without the interrogation." Teito turned back to his locker, "Isn't there anything else you should be spending your precious lunch hour over, kaichou?" **[2]**

"That's none of your business." Hakuren snapped, "And for the record, Klein, the academy rulebook discourages loitering in the halls."

"I'm looking for a book in my locker." Klein replied dully, and almost as if to prove his point, the hand inside the locker suddenly stilled and tugged at something within the confines. He pulled out a thick-hard-cover book, one which Hakuren recognized as their German text book-and immediately slammed the locker closed. Not a second had passed before there was a sudden groan and a rather alarming series of  _thud_ noises as a series of heavy objects appeared to collide with each other and hit the door. Teito winced a bit and eyed his locker in apprehension, as if debating whether or not the locker door could handle the barrage of books and whatever the hell else the boy stuffed in there.

When he'd finally noticed Hakuren's staring, he asked, "W-what?"

"Nothing. If you've finished your business here, then keep moving." Hakuren coolly replied, as he resumed walking through the corridor. He could feel the boy's eyes on him long after he'd turned the corner.

It was so easy to forget.

So easy to forget when the boy was acting like that. Easy to forget that Teito Klein was no mere seventeen-year old.

"...I should get back to work."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Three hours, 47 minutes and 9 seconds later, Hakuren leaned back in the uncomfortable hard-back chair, stretching his arms.  _Aaaaah, finally finished over a week's worth. Thank God; my fingers are cramping up..._

 _Hopefully I can get some sleep now, before I study for the next exam._ Hakuren pushed the chair away from the desk and stretched, a happy groan escaping from his lips.

He looked up at the clock. It was the final hour now, but he had the class free. And as much as he wanted to skip the final hour and go home early, his duty as council president weighed heavily on his conscience.

Barsburg Academy may be one of the most prestigious educational institutions in all the Seven Districts, but it was still a high school. And where there was a high school, there were inevitably some people there who took it upon themselves to disturb the peace of the academy. Bullies, trouble-makers, delinquents. Whatever label you gave them.  
Why wasn't it a serious problem? Because Hakuren and the rest of the student council had their eye on the disciplinary committee, ensuring that it wouldn't become one.

And though he was tired, craving for a good night's sleep and about to go off the deep end in general if he had to sign one more lousy paper, he wasn't going to slack off now. He reluctantly stood up and looked around. The council room was empty; he was the only member who had a free period after all. He switched off the lights and locked the room.

He yawned and blinked when its echo returned to him a few seconds later. The corridors here had surprisingly decent acoustics, despite being more than a little draughty on windy, rainy days. The whole make of this school in general was built to impress, and in certain ways, imitated the architecture of the Church in the same area. Only instead of warm, white marble, it favoured black onyx and a yellow metal that Hakuren was convinced was pure gold, although he wasn't sure that such large expenditure would go towards a school.

Then again, the school's benefactor was supposedly one of the richest men in the kingdom, with a family fortune enough to rival that of the Empire's king.

Despite the school's grandeur though, there was this glaring sense of emptiness that washed over Hakuren every time he stepped out of a room. Maybe it had something to do with the size of the place; the school was built on a large enough scale to house five giants-the kind from fairytales that chased after humans for food-or maybe it had something to do with the unmistakable air of new-ness about this place-having been built a mere three years ago. No matter the cause, the boy could feel it. Acutely, an almost painful awareness.

"The sun's already gone." He murmured, looking up at the sky, now blanketed by a thick layer of gray clouds, "So it'll get dark early."

_I have to call her. Make sure she's ok._

He stopped and pull his cell phone from his jeans pocket, thumbing through the device. When he'd pulled up the contact he was looking for, he paused, thumb poised right over the call button.

 _...Later. I'll call her later._ He put away his cell-phone and was about to resume walking, when something caught his attention. He looked around.

Nothing. Was that his imagin-

No, there it was again! Faintly, he could make out someone speaking in hushed tones, coming from down the hallway.

 _Someone skipping classes?_ It seemed likely. At any rate, he should check it out. Hakuren walked towards the end of the hallway and peeked around the corner.

Someone was slumped on the floor, leaning back against the lockers. To their left side, two crutches lay at an awkward angle. The hallway lights were on, but they only faintly illuminated the person's slender figure, completely lost in large, frumpy jackets and jeans. Where his clothes were frumpy, at least they were dry; his hair was wet, falling into his eyes, the warm, chocolate-brown colour darkened considerably. Even with the layers of clothes, the boy was shivering, his lips were almost blue and his face was an unnaturally pale shade of peach, almost white.

_Teito...?_

"Oi, oi, idiot. Calm down. What did you do now?" He said in a clipped voice, steady, despite the fact that his body was racked with shivers and Hakuren just noticed the cell-phone held up to the kid's ear. He paused, listening to the other person's reply and commented, "Well, I have no sympathy for you. It's all your fault." Another pause, and then, "What can I do about it? I didn't have any part to play in your silly charade-" He fell, visibly cringing. Hakuren couldn't blame him; he could actually hear the other person's shouting from where he stood.

"Quit yelling already! Do you want to get in more trouble for using a cell-phone in the middle of detention?!" The volume of the yelling lessened. Pause. A sigh, "Honestly..."

Another pause. "How's your sister doing, anyways?" More talking on the other end. A nod. "I see. Have your parents chewed you out yet?" The volume of chattering on the other end increased. "I don't see what you're complaining about. It could have been worse." Yet another slight shiver, a hand running through wet hair. "Yeah, I've had worse."

A sudden fall in volume. Teito blinked, "...No, it wasn't that bad. It's ok, it's...No, I'm fine. Quit worrying about me, you have enough problems of your own." Another pause, this time a frown. "Excuse me for being one of those problems then." As the talking continued, the frown slowly melted away, replaced by a...rather odd look, "Don't worry so much about me. Yes, yes, I am your friend", a strange inflection in his voice here, as if he does not believe what he is saying, "But that doesn't mean I'm completely helpless without you, I-..." Another blink and a dusting of red across those pale, bloodless cheeks, "I-I...what do you...of course, you can take care of yourself without me, idiot!" Another pause, this time the boy turning so red, that if word spread around the academy that the boy was half-tomato, one may actually believe it. "I am not cute!" He protested hotly, "Will you get it through that thick skull of yours?! I-...damnit, Mikage."

The words spoken on the other end had softened by this time. "Yeah. I guess I kind of miss your...stupid rambling about everything." He folded his knees slightly and his jeans pulled up a bit, revealing a flash of white.

 _Bandages?_ That would explain the crutches...but Klein was injured? They'd talked this afternoon and Hakuren hadn't even noticed...

"No, I am not! Quit it! Urgh. A-anyway, you should probably hang up now. Your parents will be leaving soon." He nodded again, then rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah." His lips twitched a bit before a smile broke out on his face. Hakuren blinked. It was strange...it was like that simple action alone had wiped away all the traces of hardness and cold fire from his face, his being, leaving behind a completely normal teenage boy.

Normal.

Something Teito Klein was not.

"Yeah. Bye." He pulled the cell-phone away and shut it with an air of finality. He leaned back against the lockers, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes.

"Sorry."

Hakuren blinked. Teito could easily have been talking to himself, but for some reason, he felt like the apology was directed towards-

"Sorry if I disturbed the school peace. Kaichou." Teito tilted his head, looking directly at Hakuren.

Hakuren froze, before clearing his throat and stepping out of the corner he'd been hiding in, "What do you mean?"

"Isn't it clearly stated in the rulebook to avoid talking on cellphones?" Teito asked, "I remember it was even advised not to bring the things to school in the first place."

"It was more of advice than a warning." Hakuren said, "And in this society, anyone who doesn't carry cell-phones wherever they go will ultimately damn themselves to be the victims of robbers, pedophiles and lowlifes of society in general."  
"Isn't that the wrong thing to be telling me?"

"What do you mean?"

Teito didn't answer that. He picked up his crutches and set them leaning against the lockers, before gingerly getting up. "I shouldn't be taking up any more of your time." The boy murmured, almost to himself, "I'll be going now."

"What happened to your foot?"

That made Teito paused. Without looking back, Teito replied, "I twisted my ankle. Labrador-san gave me these crutches and told me to stay off it."

"...And how exactly did you sprain your ankle, Klein?" Teito did look back then, and his eyes were cold, jade stone.

"I fell." He said flatly, "You have nothing to worry about."

"What do you mean?"

"This", Here, Teito stuck out his ankle, pulling back the jean leg. It was tightly wrapped in bandages and Hakuren could almost see black-blue marks around them, "wasn't because I was involved in any fight. So neither you nor the disciplinary committee need to concern yourself with the possibility of discord in your precious academy." The boy's tone however implied that he wasn't involved in a fight  _this time._ Hakuren frowned, but pushed that issue aside.

"No, I wasn't thinking that. I was just concerned for your well-being."

That same odd look came on Teito's face again, the one he had earlier when he was talking on the phone. However that same, flat tone was there in his voice when he replied, "No need to trouble yourself so, kaichou. Not when you could care less for my well-being."  
"I'm in charge of the student council, and the safety and well-being of my students is my business. That includes you too."

"Don't pretend like you actually give a shit about me." Dread crept up Hakuren's spine as Teito's voice changed, the uncaring, bland tone giving way to something...dangerous. "No-one else does. So why should you, Oak?"

"And what if I said it was genuine concern?"

Teito stared at Hakuren and the longer he held their gazes, the more anger Hakuren could see through the cracks in his mask. And underneath that strong emotion of hatred, flickers of something else.  
Something else Hakuren recognized all too well.

"I'd say that your concern was wasted on me." Teito pocketed his cell-phone and took his crutches, hobbling past Hakuren without another word.

At least, he would have if Hakuren had not grabbed Teito's arm.

For a split second, he felt cold, damp skin and his fingers traced the raised, uneven flesh of goosebumps, before Teito flinched and slapped his arm to face him.

And the emotion that Hakuren had seen in the corners of the boy's eyes stared right back at him, increased ten-fold, written all over his face.

Fear.

"Don't touch me." He hissed out, "Don't...fucking touch me. Leave me alone." He turned back around and hobbled away.

And this time, Hakuren made no move to stop him.

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It was 11 'o clock and Frau was about 97% sure that he was stinking drunk.

The other 3% of his brain was afloat in alcohol, so it pretty much didn't count.

As soon as school ended and Frau had made a remarkable attempt in dealing with the paperwork he had, he'd stood up from his desk as soon as the bell rang and headed out of the school with only one goal in mind-drown out his sorrows and bleach out his mind the only way he knew how. The only way he knew how that didn't involve destruction of public property and life-or-death situations. With the scales tipped heavily towards 'death'.

And he really,  _really_ did not want Castor on the war-path. Not with the man backed into a corner with Leaning Towers of paperwork on all three sides. Which, if one thought about it, is why Frau was going to drink in the first place.

Ugh, paradox.

 _Why is this District so fucking big?_ The Church was big, the academy was big, the streets were big, the shops on the street were big. And the houses on the street...there were a whole different level of big. 'Bigger than mountains' didn't even come close. And he was pretty damn sure they were all built from marble, onyx and whatever the fuck else was more commonly used to build palaces and not common family villas.

It wasn't like Frau's salary was less than satisfactory either; within two or three months, the amount of money he earned would clear off half his debts. With interest. That was pretty easy money right there; even with the crazy workload, the students there were, at least, well-behaved-more or less, considering what a brat Frau had been when he was that age.

Sure that was  _Frau,_ but the fact remained that is was getting difficult to find model students in this day than back when he was a kid.

_'Back in my day'?_

_...I'm getting old. Meh._

Frau managed to stumble across a crossing and looked up to see that he'd finally made it to a street he actually knew. Better yet, his apartment was just two blocks away. And although he'd never been one for turning in early-11 was more than a little early for him-all he really wanted to do right now was get through that apartment door, flop on the couch and doze off.

No, more than anything, he never wanted tomorrow to come.

He stopped.

Tomorrow would come. It would come, whether he wanted to or not. He'd already found that out the hard way.

Frau yawned.  _I really need to sleep. Damn it, I really wanted to see that movie marathon too. How they could make a low-budget thriller parody thing based off 'War of Our Worlds' is anyone's guess though..._ He scanned the buildings, trying to pick the ones he needed to go between to reach his apartment.

 _I think I need to walk a little more before I reach there..._ He resumed walking again, trying to pick up any landmarks he could go on.

Yes, Frau was stinking drunk. And though the street lights were on, the darkness was impenetrable. So much so that even if Frau were completely sober, he would still have trouble navigating the area. True, there was not a person in sight And as for what happened next...if Frau had to put a label on the circumstances that surrounded that particular instance, he would undoubtedly have called it lots of things.

'Circumstantial' was not one of them.

He wasn't sure what grabbed his attention first. He'd replayed that scene a thousand times in his head, even years into the far future and he still wasn't sure just  _what_ it was that made him turn around and see. At some points he couldn't even tell whether the clatter of metal on stone pavement, or the nearly-inaudible, held-in sob of pain that he had 'heard' were even real.

But there was no doubt when it came to the feeling that he'd felt just moments before. That spine-chilling, walking-over-your-grave feeling that Frau had learned years ago never to ignore.

So he turned and looked.

A lone figure sat in the shadowed alleyway closest to Frau. The hood from his jacket was pulled up over his head and his hands were tucked away in his over-long sleeves, but Frau could clearly see that the person was probably in his teens. He-even under the bulky jacket, shirt and jeans, Frau could clearly see that the figure was male-was visibly shivering, even with the thick jacket over him and whatever Frau could see of his skin was bone-pale.

But all these details had registered themselves only later in Frau's mind. The only thing that the man had eyes for the minute he'd set them on the scene before him was the large splotches of red on his clothes; his chest, his arm, his legs. They were everywhere.

The boy didn't seem to notice the man was there, however. Frau could hear the sound of shaky, shallow breathing as trembling fingers pressed the area of his chest, horrifically close to his heart. The light from the dimmed street-lamps shone on him briefly as he clutched at the blood...red-stained shirt

The figure trembled and cried out again, as his fingers passed over the spot at the centre of the stain and the momentary light illuminated the gash in his grey hoodie and underneath, a long slash in the skin.

"The fuck?!" The exclamation ripped through what was left of the tense silence and before Frau knew it, he was on his knees next to the boy. His hand had caught the boy's, his eyes fixated on the boy's bent hood, and in a low voice he demanded, "What the fuck happened?"  
The boy showed no response, except to sway a little more. Was this kid drugged? Drugged  _and_ attacked?

"Hey, hey, stay with me!" Frau said as the kid swayed more, leaning towards Frau. Just when the man though the kid would fall, his hands shot out and supported him at the last minute.

"Agh..." A slow groan finally escaped the kid, his knuckles gripping the ground tightly.

"Can you hear me, kid?" Frau kept his voice strong and even, his hands on the kid's shoulders, touching that terrible damp warmth of what he now knew for sure was blood, "Try not to faint, ok? What happened to you?"

"..."

 _I have to call Castor._ Of all the thoughts flying around in Frau's brain, that was the one that seemed the most swore and pulled out his cell-phone. He was about to speed-dial Castor, before a heavy, listless hand knocked Frau's away. The cell-phone was knocked from slack, unexpecting fingers and clattered to a halt a few feet away from them.

"Don't." Despite his weakened condition, the boy's fingers closed with surprising strength over Frau's wrist.

"What...?"

"Don't...call...anyone." The pauses were long, and the words were so soft they were almost lost in the rush of air leaving the boy's body with every breath. But Frau still heard them.

"What...?"

"He'll..." The breathing was becoming dangerously slow and shallow, and the boy's body was becoming more and more limp with each passing second.

 _He's losing too much blood...if this keeps up, he'll bleed to death right here!_ "Listen to me, kid. We have to get you to a hospital, alright? Can you walk?" The boy didn't reply to that. His breathing was becoming laboured now, and his upper body was slowly relaxing, slumping over.

 _Shit!_ "Stay with me, now. Come on, don't go fainting on me like a wimp." His only response was another huff of breath.  _He won't be able to last long at this rate...should I try carrying him to the hospital?_

"Do...you...even know the way?"

"What?"

"Won't you j..." The grip on Frau's wrist tightened as the boy said in as clear a voice as he could, "Won't you just get lost again?"

Frau froze. His mind struggled to work through the fog of shock that had settled in not only his brain, but his limbs and heart, as he started to consider the possibility that he  _knew_ that voice. That voice, virtually unrecognizable, that voice thick with the difficulty of breathing, weighed down with sorrow, pain, fear...and anger.

The boy looked up at him then.

Dull, green eyes peeked out through slicked, wet brown hair, holding his own with a strength that belied his condition.

"Right," A mocking blood-tinged smirk, a flash of the eyes, "Frau- _sensei_?"

" _Teito_?!"

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	7. The Space Between

 

 _Italics:_ They indicate flashbacks/dreams

Papercuts

Chapter 7: The Space Between

_"Look at her"._

_No._

_The word was but a mere whisper in the confines of his mind, but something on his face must have given it away. Cold eyes traced his figure, one pair after another, taking their turn in this sick, twisted game._

_A brief flash of pain, before it dulled into the continuous ebb and flow of agony flooding his body._

_"Look"._

_The word was a constant murmur in his mind, even when its echo had long faded into the silence of the new-moon night._

_But still he desists, clenching his teeth and keeping his head bowed, focusing instead on the red that covered his arms, his legs, his neck, his entire body covered in sticky almost-warmth._

_Pain would not force him. Pain would not motivate him._

_Pain was theirs to inflict through their puppet's hands. Pain was theirs to see, to revel in through the eyes of their little toy soldier._

_They play with his strings to make him dance, with the cruel single-mindedness of a child curious to see how much he could play with his toys before they fall to the ground and break into a thousand pieces._

_It wasn't too difficult to do that, when the toy was already broken to begin with.  
His fingers gripped harder at the blood-soaked ground, as fire tore through his limbs and throat. His mouth fell open and his ears heard the hacking coughs that tore through his body, thrumming through the aches and pains that resounded through his entire being._

_The warm feeling of liquid on his flesh, a bright, fresh splatter on the drying blood on his skin, dribbling down his mouth._

_Fire fighting fire, destroying the wielder, burning him alive._

_Shrill screams pierce the silence._

_Eyes meet eyes and the woman screams again, as she sees the monster look at her._

_Because what lay in front of her was just that._

_A monster. Not a man._

" _Finish her."_

_No._

_No._

_No._

" _...Yes, master."_

_And as the earth sways off its axis, and the screams fell away into the dark silence, the monster stands in the moon's cruel, gentle light, wiping the last flecks of blood on its face away. It feels their gazes burn its back, as it looks away in silence, from the fresh corpse at its feet, from the mask-like faces that sweep the arena, equal parts curiosity and disgust._

_Looking away from the bitter truth it cannot escape._

" _You are mine."_

_**You are mine.** _

_**Mine.** _

_**Mine.** _

_**Mine.** _

_The monster is not so far gone that his thoughts have disappeared. Not yet anyway._

_And unwillingly, the last remnants of a once-human mind finishes the sentence whispered in its ear, with a final certainty that breaks its fever-dream._

_And no-one will ever save me._

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_'Aaaaah...such a beautiful day. '_

_Arms stretched out towards the sky, sunlight peeking through the gaps between interlocked fingers. A yawn worked its way through him, a tired grin following shortly after._

_"Feels so good to stand out here after so long."_

_'Thwack!'_

_"Wha-owwww!"_

_A hand flew to his head and a hiss rose to his lips as his fingers probed at the tender spot where he was struck. "Owowowow...that hurt!"_

_"It was supposed to hurt." A voice informed him in a listless monotone. The grass underneath rustled dryly , informing him of a presence next to him, "You have exams coming up in a few days, for which you haven't prepared for in the least and yet I find you sitting out here, wasting time that you don't have."_

_He turned around to protest at the not-entirely-baseless accusation, but stopped when he saw the object responsible for his now-aching head "...Did you just hit me with my own sketchbook?"_

_"It was the only thing here I could hit you with."_

_"You could have just not hit me at all!"_

_"Idiots can only learn life lessons if they hit them in the face."_

_"You hit me on the back of the head!"_

_"Same principle applies."_

_"So mean..." He pouted, "I need to spend some time in the sun after staying indoors for so long..."_

_"And whose fault was it that you had to do that?" The bite of the rebuke was softened by an exasperated sigh._

_"...I'm sorry."_

_Genuine surprise colored the words that followed, "For what?"_

_"You came all the way out here to see me and I end up having to take re-tests because I failed by one stupid, stinking mark." Fingers curled into a fist that pressed softly into the ground, "And when I finish, you'll be going back to the Seventh District...and I can't see you."_

_"You do realize I'm staying over at your house, right? We'll be seeing each other everyday before I leave."_

_"Yes, I know! I know that but it's...it's not the same. We won't be able to go to that new cinema theatre together, see the seals and all the other animals at the zoo, go to the gaming arcade together or that impossibly swanky bar-turned-breakfast diner, or..."_

_"Oi, oi...how much exactly did you plan to show me in one week?"_

_"I won't be able to do any of those things now...and I won't be able to spend any time, really spend it with you. We haven't seen each other in years and when we finally meet, this happens. I'm sorry, Teito. I..."_

_"I don't need to do all those things to enjoy myself."_

_"But still-!"_

_"There isn't anything you have to do to show me a good time or make me feel at home." Teito looked somewhat uncomfortable with the turn the conversation was taking. He fidgeted before he continued in a low voice, "I don't waste my time with people I don't like. And it doesn't feel like I'm just wasting my time when I spend it with you. So it doesn't matter to me whether we go out or just meet at the dinner table , I'm kept busy enough as it is making sure you actually study and not just goof off. Or running away for hours on en-oof!"_

_Teito's sentence was cut-off abruptly as arms wrapped around him, and he was thrown to the ground. Breathless, happy laughter reached his ears as the arms tightened their hold on him, ignoring the boy's protests, "Teito!"_

_"Wha- hey, Mikage! Get off!"_

_"Teito Teito Teito!_

_"Let go of me already! Come on!"_

_"I'm so happy!" Mikage said, finally drawing back from Teito enough that the boy could see the proclaimed ecstatic expression on his friend's face, "It's the first time you've ever told me something like that to me! I'm so happy that I think I could die!"_

_"Stupid! Don't say something like that! Let me go!"_

_"No." Mikage stretched the word, making it sound like it had ten syllables instead of just one, as the idiotic grin shone at Teito with the splendor of a thousand golden suns._

_"Mikage, come on..." Teito pushed at his friend, trying in vain to push himself out of the Mikage's arms, "Get off."_

_"I'm glad that you're my friend."_

_"Are you an idiot?" Teito sighed. Mikage merely hummed in response. He still hadn't let go of Teito, and the boy had to wriggle around in Mikage's choke-hold of a hug to sit up and look at him._

_"Move."_

_"No."_

_"Mikage."_

_"Not yet."_

_Teito looked off to the side again, but even then, Mikage could identify the sudden shift in Teito's mood. Mikage finally scrambled back to a sitting position near Teito just as the boy's muttered words reached his ears._

_"Why me?"_

_The question...was soft. Soft both in the sense that it was barely audible-Mikage had to strain his ears to catch the words, almost melding into Teito's breath-and also, the words trembled at the end. Trembled._

_Mikage had known Teito for a short while, admittedly. But it had been long enough for him to know that Teito was strong. Physical strength aside, the boy had a will of steel-it wouldn't be an understatement to say that nothing short of death threats would sway him from his decisions._

_He'd never heard Teito as he was now._

_Child-like and vulnerable._

_"Teito?"_

_"...We should get going now. We have to get you back, so you can catch up on studying today's portion."_

_"Eeeeeeeeh?! Whyyyy..."_

_"Because you shouldn't fail again, since it would be a black mark on your record and you would have no hope of becoming a Begleiter?" Teito mock-asked, giving Mikage an incredulous look._

_"Come on, Teito, I'm not that bad..."_

_"Anywhere near the passing/failing mark is bad for the military academy and you know it!"_

_"I can't help it! My class is full of nerds! And besides, cramming up stuff won't do any good in the actual battlefield!"_

_"First off, it doesn't matter if you have nerds in your class, their marks don't affect the pass/fail mark. Their marks affect the average." Teito shot back, "And you need to understand at least the basic theory here, if you want to be a successful Begleiter. Successful meaning not getting yourself killed in your first year."_

_Mikage pouted, and the childish expression pulled at Teito's lips, trying to make him smile, make him laugh._

_It didn't. But Mikage's worry ebbed slightly when he saw that the comical expression had at least taken Teito's mind off whatever was troubling him._

_"I got it, I got it." Mikage said grumpily, pushing himself back up to his feet. He thought he saw a brief flash of relief on Teito's face, but it disappeared before he could comment on it, reverting instead back to its normal grouchy look._

_"Come on then. We've got a lot of work to do before the sun sets."_

_Mikage blinked, "We?"_

_"Yes, 'we'." Teito said, looking impatient, "I'm going to be there, making sure you study whatever your supposed to be studying and drill it into your thick skull."_

_"Aaaah, scary." Mikage said, only half-jokingly, "So, the topper of Barsburg High is going to be my tutor? I'm honored."_

_"Topper...what nonsense are you babbling now?Let's get going already." Teito grumbled, the tips of his ears turning red. Mikage grinned again, stretching his arms behind him._

_His head throbbed dully from where Teito had hit him, his body ached slightly from where he'd tackled Teito, not to mention that his skin was heated, his body spent from laughing and rolling on the grass like children, his cheeks red, his breath coming out in huffs._

_He wouldn't give up this feeling for the world._

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_He wouldn't give up this feeling for the world._

_The snip-snip-snick of twin blades, smooth rings of metal against his knuckles, the soft flesh of his fingers._

_The metal gleams and flashes a threatening silver._

_His eyes glow cold fire, colder than the steel in his hands_

_He felt his mouth stretch into a gaping hole, before it angled itself, tearing at his cheeks, revealing gleaming teeth._

_He felt no warmth._

_Not any more._

_...Any more?_

_Snip-snip-snick._

_No._

_Perhaps he'd never felt it in the first place. Maybe, he'd mistaken vague, fleeting illusions of security for warmth, convinced himself into thinking that even._

_Snip-snip-snick._

_He dived forward suddenly; the sudden rush of air raising goosebumps against his skin, his heart pounding against his ribs, his breath trapped in his body._

_The sound of glass shattering, windows breaking, fell on his ears. Faded into the background, radio noise._

_It was there and then it wasn't._

_Just like the warmth he had supposedly felt._

_He shook his head. Long strands of hair, dirty and unkempt, fell into his eyes. They stung._

_He shouldn't hope for something that never existed._

_For him, anyway._

_Yes._

_Radio noise._

_He shouldn't hope._

_He shouldn't feel._

_Radio noise._

_He shouldn't feel. He shouldn't._

_A scream. Single, drawn-out, a woman's, the woman's, a woman he kne-_

_Radio noise._

_Because the only warmth that he could feel._

_Was the warmth that he had to steal._

_The scissors glinted dully in his hand, reflecting its twin, reflecting flesh so pale it was almost white._

_The contrast of red splatters on his skin, on the steel, against the white of his being was stark and almost frightening._

_The red was so warm._

_But it would fade to cold._

_And this fleeting warmth is all he could have._

_For as long as he was warm, he could feel._

_And he wouldn't give up this feeling. Not for anything in the world._

_This feeling, this shadow, this warmth would never touch him for long._

_But he'd learn to live with the cold._

_After all, it was all he had to live with._

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_It was something he'd learnt to live with, he supposed._

_The rain poured onto the earth relentlessly, but the sudden downpour was not unexpected. This sort of weather was the norm in the Seventh District; freak thunderstorms were mere summer showers to the inhabitants._

_When the Oak family had shifted Districts, Hakuren Oak, then 7'years of age, found the weather there much different than the sunny shorelines of the First District._

_Of course, he'd expected as much._

_The sky roared; a low, ominous growl. Hakuren frowned._

_'So much for clear, sunny skies.' But then he didn't trust the weather forecast here anyway. To say the changes in weather patterns were unpredictable was putting it mildly._

_His fingers played with the curtain as he stared out the window, letting the sound of thunder wash over his ears. A strange shiver flitted through him, goosebumps rising on his arms._

_'Strange. Is the radiator broken?' He wondered._

_Before Hakuren could dwell more on the issue, there was a knock on his door._

_"Master Hakuren."_

_"Come in, Annika."_

_The maid stepped inside the room. She sank into a curtsy, head bowed and said, "Master Oak wishes for your presence in the dining hall."_

_"Father does?" Hakuren sounded a touch incredulous, but with good reason. To say that he wasn't on the best of terms with his father would be putting it mildly._

_The maid's pretty face clouded, as she unaware of the details, Master Hakuren, but...there seems to be a dignitary of sorts coming to visit later and Master Oak wishes you to be present when they arrive."_

_"Isn't the party scheduled at 8 this evening?"_

_"Yes, it is."_

_"...Very well. I will be downstairs shortly."_

_"Yes, Master."_

_"Annika_

_"Yes, Master?"_

_"Regarding..." Hakuren cleared his throat, "well, regarding the subject we spoke of earlier..."_

_The maid's face cleared and she smiled, sinking into another curtsy, "I will attend to it, as commanded."_

_"Thank you. You may go now." He turned back to the window, as the door closed behind her, the groaning of hinges loud in the silence that followed._

_"And I was hoping for some quiet before the next public show of humiliation." Hakuren took one last look at the window, before pulling the rope beside him and watched the curtains fall, cutting him off from the view of his last, final sanctuary._

_It was funny, in a way._

_Ten years ago, he didn't even like rain._

_A flash of light barely made itself known through the gap in the curtains, and another roar of thunder followed, drowning out the sudden sounds of glass breaking, the dim, faraway sound of pounding and the voice of someone he barely knew, hushed for a second, then high-pitched and anguished the next._

_Ten years ago, anyway._

_He supposed that he should probably get going. His Father was a lot of things, and a patient man was not one of them._

_He opened the door and stepped out of the room, into the wide, spacious hallway. No-one had bothered to turn on the lights; probably Father had all the servants running ragged with_

_preparations for the last-minute party._

_'If he expects to have guests over, then Father should at least make the house look hospitable. Better to greet guests in something that resembles a house more than a dungeon.'_

_Then again, with the reputation surrounding his family name, Hakuren often felt a dungeon more suitable to host social gatherings._

_"...Let's just get this over with."_

_"You could at least make an effort to pretend to be enthusiastic."_

_Caught breath._

_Frozen heart._

_A trail of ice kissing the line of his spine._

_"Will you stop doing that?" Hakuren's voice stayed calm. He rubbed his hands over his arms and glared at the figure that peeked out from the shadows._

_"My apologies. I assumed that the sentence from before was meant for me." The voice was warm, the words rife with the sweet tones of laughter, making the speaker sound younger beyond his years._

_Admittedly, the age gap between them was almost non-existent, but it was almost too easy to forget that._

_Hakuren hated forgetting things._

_"I was talking to myself." Hakuren replied shortly._

_"I see. Again, my apologies." The servant stepped into view, dipping into a bow._

_"...Where's Liam?" Hakuren asked finally._

_"Liam is with Oak-sama right now. He will be serving the guests this meeting, while the other servants attend to the party arrangements. I was sent to call on you."_

_"It's hardly been five minutes."_

"I am aware. Annika informed Oak-sama that she had informed you of the meeting." This time, Ouida allowed a small smile on his face, "...I may or may not have excused myself from Oak-sama's presence,

_under the pretext of calling you." He saw the expression on my face and laughed a little, "It's not my place to say this, but...well, Oak-sama seems a little more uptight than usual."  
_

_Hakuren rubbed his eyes wearily. "I didn't even think that was possible."_

"As did I. At any rate, I felt that I should warn you."

_"I didn't need it."_

_Ouida's smile dropped down a few notches. "No. You didn't." He looked behind him, as he continued, "May I take my leave? I have to check on Liam."_

"You don't have to ask."

_"Well then. I'll take my leave now, Hakuren-sama."_

"I told you to stop calling me that."

_"Yes." With that vague answer, Ouida turned on his heel and walked off._

_For someone who's a servant of the Oak family, Ouida is remarkably carefree._

_And he wouldn't have accepted anything less._

_Hakuren walked the rest of the way in silence, with only his thoughts to keep him company._

_As always._

_His feet feel leaden, heavy, his thoughts cloudy._

_He coughed. The harsh sound echoed through the hallway, grated on his ears. Made the skin of his neck prickle._

_Only vaguely was he aware of the sweat trickling down his forehead, only the burning in his chest and throat. Only the slow thoughts in his head, trickling like sand in an hourglass, slow but continuous, occupied his attention and before he knew it, he'd lost sight of the hallway entirely. His eyes closed, opened, closed, opened, closed, opened, blink, blink, closed, opened, closed...opened...closed. Opened._

_...Closed._

_...Opened._

_...Closed._

_..._

_Opened._

_He rubbed his eyes, his hand leeching the heat from behind his eyes._

_His eyes...his eyes..._

_**"HAKUREN!"** _

_"...!"_

_His breath returned to him in a sharp gasp, his heart hammering against his ribcage, his face and body drenched in sweat._

_His eyes flew open._

_...Open?_

_They were closed before?_

_...Was he lying down?_

_Hakuren sat up._

_He stared at the white sheets blanketing his legs, covering his stomach, cool to his fevered touch._

_Fevered? He touched his forehead and found that he was dripping in sweat. Odd. Wasn't he shivering like a leaf earlier?_

_...When exactly was 'earlier'? And how did he get here anyway?_

_"You're awake."_

_Hakuren looked to his side to see the slim figure of a young boy standing near the window-somewhere, he realized abruptly, near where he was standing before while he watched the rain. He tugged at the rope, letting the curtains falling back to earth almost immediately, as if he were caught doing something that he shouldn't have._

_Well, he was trespassing in Hakuren's room and seeing as Hakuren had no idea who he was..._

_"I apologize for the intrusion." He continued calmly, as he switched on the lights._

_"What..."  
_

_"You had fainted in the hallway outside the dining hall."_

_"I did?"_

_He nodded, "You 're running a high fever. I suspect that you may have caught the flu that's been going around recently."_

_Hakuren frowned. It was possible; he had been feeling under the weather for a couple of days now. And this morning, he did feel the beginnings of a fever coming on. It sounded plausible._

What perfect timing.  _Hakuren chuckled. At least it wasn't his fault he'd fouled up his old man's plans yet again._

_The boy stared as Hakuren laughed, then looked to the side as if the display had put him off somehow._

_"So you were the one who found me there?"_

"Yes."

_"Then I must thank you."  
_

_"There's no need." The boy said uncomfortably, "I just did what anyone else would in this situation."_

"Don't be so sure of that." Hakuren said grimly. Fatigue was pulling at the back of his mind, demanding his attention, and slowly he was giving in to it. But he wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of sleeping with a stranger in his room, even a well-meaning one.

_"...Do you have an ice-pack?"_

"Hm?"

"Or something that can help bring down the fever?" He clarified, as he looked around.

_"Ah...no. I don't."  
_

_The person nodded to himself, before murmuring, "I suppose I'll have to make do." He made his way to the bathroom._

_Hakuren leaned back against the headrest, assessing his condition. His throat hurt, his nose was stuffed and a lovely shade of mottled red, his head felt like it was full of air, his body was drenched in sweat, crying miserably for cooler air, his neck and shoulders hurt-although that may be because of his unfortunate unhealthy habit of sleeping on the desk-and his body felt somewhat light and shaky, which may be_

_All in all, it wasn't too serious, but he wasn't going for any marathons any time soon._

_He was surprised he hadn't caught the flu sooner, considering his poor sleeping habits and his unfortunate tendency to overwork himself. Of course, he could have contracted the flu earlier at school and it simply manifested while he stayed at home, and he was too oblivious to his deteriorating condition to notice. His symptoms seemed a bit extreme to assume that he'd just caught it today or even yesterday._

_As he let his mind wander, it occurred to him that his Father may be more than a little furious that Hakuren would not be able to attend the pre-party meeting or the party itself._

Well, it's hardly my fault if I fall ill.

_Something cool touched his forehead and he opened his eyes to see the same stranger leaning over him, carefully placing a wet towel on his forehead. Noticing the stare, the stranger said somewhat grumpily, "...These were the only things I could find."  
"No, it's fine. Thank you."_

He placed a bowl of water and a box of tissues on the bedside table, before moving away, back towards the window. His face was blank, his steps careful but light, almost as if he were drawn to the chaos of water and wind and light outside.

_"The storm's still going strong...huh..."_

_"It's supposed to be the worst storm this season."_

_The boy blinked and looked over at Hakuren as if he'd forgotten that he was there._

_"This_ season _? I thought the only weather we had over here was rain, rain and more rain."_

_"It's a plausible assumption. But no. There is a very brief dry spell in the middle of winter that lasts for about a month. Admittedly, there isn't much sun then, given it is winter, but at least it's long enough to consider it a season. I think."_

_He just nodded absently at that; his gaze had gone back towards the window while Hakuren was talking._

_Hakuren fixed his towel absently, feeling his eyes grow heavier with each second. As much as he didn't want to fall asleep in this stranger's company, his tired, worn body, weakened by the fever, was slowly being tempted into sleep._

_"Go ahead."_

_Hakuren's eyes flickered back to the stranger briefly; he was too tired to turn his head._

_"I'm not going to slit your throat while you sleep. You can relax."_

Hakuren laughed again; this time a short, tired bark of laughter, "There's a comfort."

_He didn't see the boy's response to that. His eyes had already closed, his mind lost in a sea of fog, his senses slipping to black._

_Before he slept though, he heard that voice again, almost drowned in the wail of the rain._

_"I haven't seen the sun since I first came here. And I don't think I ever will."_

_It was strange._

_Ten years ago, Hakuren didn't even like rain._

_Ten years ago, Hakuren had uttered more or less that very same sentence. In that very same spot, looking out into the grey-white of the sky, groping blindly for the last few rays of sunlight that never existed._

_Ten years later, sick in bed, sicker at heart, Hakuren was staring at his own reflection. In the flesh-and-blood body of another, he saw the same etches of loneliness in his eyes, the same tightness in his lips that spoke of anger barely reigned in, the same posture; spine straight, head held high, as if he dared the people around him to do the impossible. To try and break something that was already broken._

_Ten years later, Hakuren had found someone who could possibly understand what he had gone through, someone to talk to, someone he may even call a friend one day._

_Teito Klein._

_Ironic that it would be the one who, if he was in his right mind, would hate with every fiber of his being._

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Contrary to general opinion, Castor was not an early riser.

If anything, the man would be more than happy to stay asleep till one in the afternoon at the very least.

But then, as reality had been kind enough to point out at every instance of his life, his wish was no-one's command.

He yawned as he pulled into the school's parking lot, automatically turning to the section reserved for the faculty and teaching staff. As he scanned the area for a free parking spot, he occasionally glanced up at the academy building with something close to loathing.

At the risk of sounding like one of the little brats that often visited Lazette's cafe during Strawberry Sunday, he really did  _not_ want to be here today.

Hell, if he had any sense at all, he would probably be in the Sixth District by now, braving hailstorms, tornadoes or whatever else the storm of the week was.

He finally spotted a gap in the rainbow of metal on either side of him and swerved to the left. It was quite a ways off from the entrance, but he preferred it like that. The walk up would give him time to clear the cobwebs of sleep from his head.

He parked the car and stepped out, into the sea of frigid-cold air. The mist seemed to be back with a vengeance after yesterday's unexpected, brief sunny reprieve.

Castor smiled. Lazette had managed to beg her boss to let her off for half an hour so that she could spend some time outside. She loved spending time in the sun and valued every minute of it, especially now that she was staying in a district where one could count the number of sunny days a year on your fingers and still come up short.

Sometimes...he'd wished that there was a better alternative for her than just staying with him in this nowhere town.

Castor sighed as the beginnings of a headache bloomed somewhere near the bridge of his nose.  _I need coffee._ The first of many through the day, as always.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It had gotten to the point where the man felt that the academy should invest some of the school budget into extra coffee pots for all of the teachers to carry around. It would certainly be less of an expense than some of the other, more...conspicuous ideas Headmistress Lalonde had, at the very least.

He fumbled in his pockets for his keys as he walked, cursing the overtly-thick gloves Lazette had insisted he'd wear. Well, more like she'd taken one look at the weather outside and moved to step between Castor and the front door, gloves in hand, and that same look in her eyes Castor had seen too many times to ignore.

...She shouldn't even have stayed long enough to see him go.

She shouldn't be staying at home.

Not now, not when her life had finally acquired some semblance of normalcy.

His fingers finally managed to find purchase on steel and he pulled out the keys just as he reached the door. He stopped in front of the door and touched the handle as the hand with the keys moved towards the keyhole...only for the door to slide silently away from his touch, stopping when the gap had widened about the fraction of an inch.

Castor stared mutely as the light that flooded from the office within and into the outside world, before allowing himself another sigh and pushed the door wide open.

"What's wrong now?"

His question hung listlessly in the empty air, devoid of noise save for the rapid, steady breathing of the man sitting on the sofa where Castor's clients usually sat. Parallel images, yet absolutely identical, even down to the sitting posture. Back bent forward, elbows propped on knees, forehead propped on joint fingers, eyes turned away from the light.

They were similar even at psychological levels. Because if they had it their way, this office would be the last place they would come to.

Even if the fact wasn't flattering, it still was that. A fact. And Castor had long ago learnt to come to terms with it just by being friends with the man who looked trouble straight in the eye and flipped it off, while insulting it in the most offending way imaginable.

Because there were some things even Frau couldn't face alone.

"You're going to catch something if you sit here dressed like that." Castor said, taking in Frau's trademark blue overcoat and gloves, which while sufficient in skin coverage, even with the man's height, lacked in the insulation area, "At least put the heater on if you plan on hiding here all day."

Still no response. That was expected though.

Castor pocketed his keys and hung his coat on the coat-rack before flipping the heater switch on. The familiar mechanical whirring that every citizen in the District had come to associate with warmth broke the silence, filling the room along with the heat.

"Did you even go home last night, Frau?" Castor continued, as he made his way towards the small area where he stocked the coffee powder and checked the electric water kettle.

Still no response.

"I'll take that as a no." Castor pulled out another cup from the cupboard and continued, "You still take your coffee black, no sugar?"

"..."

"You need to consume something other than cigarettes and alcohol, Frau." Castor said, as he scrutinized the other cupboard he'd dubbed the office pantry for something decent to eat.

Not a fruitful search, admittedly, but he'd settle for anything edible. Frau most likely hadn't eaten since lunch. He finally settle on somewhat-stale sandwiches he'd bought from the convenience store, picked up a steaming mug of coffee and shoved it at his friend.

"Eat."

Frau didn't move.

"This'll make it easier on both of us Frau. Lab's already busy enough as it is, he does not need to explain how the corpse of what once was a teacher had come about."

Frau did look at him then, eyebrow raised slightly.

"Take a look at yourself in the mirror. It's not in my habit to exaggerate. That's your job." Castor said, as he settled down in the chair near his desk, "That and, may I remind you, taking German classes for high-school students."

Frau's fingers twitched. The motion was infinitesimal at best. Most people wouldn't even have noticed the slight changes in the man's statue-like demeanour. But then, Castor was not most people.

"So it's one of the students then. What happened?"

Frau's reaction was slightly more obvious this time. He froze abruptly, then took a sip of coffee.

If Castor looked close enough, he could just see slight tremors in the man's frame, the skin acting as a living conduit for the rage that slowly broke through the cracks in Frau's expression.

"Frau, you have to tell me eventually. Isn't that why you're here?"

Frau said nothing and Castor pursed his lips. He'd been in this situation enough times to know which direction this conversation was going. And he didn't like it.  
No matter what kind of trouble Frau had gotten himself in, he still managed to retain a few shreds of his carefree, I-don't-give-a-fuck exterior, the attitude that people in his life had come to recognize as his own, to associate as  _Frau_ 's.

But the wordless anger in his friend's eyes was pure. Unadulterated.

He'd seen that same anger a few times before. And the circumstances during those instances had been far from kind to them both.

"...ng."

"What?"

"Nothing." Frau said, and the bite in his tone was almost lost in the hoarse rasp of his voice, "Absolutely nothing. That's the fucking problem."

"...What?"

"You heard me." Frau looked up at Castor, the anger showing openly in his face now, "There is nothing that's wrong. Why should there be anything wrong? This town is fucking perfect, isn't it?" That question seemed to be rhetorical, as Frau didn't wait for Castor's reply before continuing, "There isn't anything wrong, because everything is hunky-fucking-dory. And the people..." A scathing, humourless laugh, before the mug was slammed back onto the table, "Well, they certainly live up to their name as the children of the town of God."

 _...This isn't what you're angry about._ Frau was stalling for time. Time for him to think, sort out his emotions.

Something he hadn't done since he left town. Something he hadn't found himself in the need to do since he left.

"...Tell me what happened, Frau. Exactly what happened."

Frau didn't seem to hear him, however. He answered with a question of his own.

If Castor could call it a question, that is. There wasn't a trace of uncertainty or doubt in his voice, nor curiosity or dread in his words or bodily actions that suggested that he was asking something of the school counsellor.

No, his tone...blank, flat and matter-of-fact clearly stated that what Frau asked of Castor was something that the man had to answer.

"I want to know everything you know about Teito Klein."

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	8. Break Beat Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while huh?
> 
> let's get back into it.

Papercuts

Chapter 8: Break Beat Down

 

"I want you to tell me everything you know about Teito Klein." 

 

"If you're asking me that, then you already know."

 

Of course, he answers in fucking riddles. Frau closes his eyes and tempers his rage for about the thousandth time since yesterday.  

He'd never been good at that. Never. 

And when he opens his eyes, he sees Castor staring at him. That same, hard stare. 

 

They'd known each other for far too long to try to lie. 

 

"I know something at least. And I have no fucking idea of what I'm looking at." Frau tries again, "All that I know is, I really,  _really_ don't like to look at it." 

 

"And you're still looking?"

 

"I don't want to look away." 

 

"...You haven't really changed much, have you?" Castor sighs. He walks over to the window and looks out at the view beyond.

It was only two or three seconds before he'd started to talk.

 

Thinking back, Frau realized that in itself was a warning of the shitstorm that was to come. 

 

"The boy's name is Teito Klein. You know this as well as I. But that's the only thing people expect you to know because they know if you heard the rest, you wouldn't just stand by. Like they have." 

"Stand by?" 

"Stand by and watch." Castor lowers his head, slowly shakes it, "Remember? You'd raise all kinds of hell, like you normally do." 

 

"..."

"And some of them had actually caught on to that pattern that 'sets you off'."

 

Castor's actually looking at him now. 

 

"Frau." 

 

He'd heard that grave tone once before. 

 

It never had been a happy memory. 

 

"Can you promise me something?" 

 

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Every time he woke up, he said a prayer. 

It was a habit that he'd worked into his day when he moved into the District. Capella had told him about it. 

 

'A Prayer for Everything'.

 

Before he opened his eyes, he thought words in his mind. Simple words. 

Single words. 

 

With those single words, he connected it to people and things that he knows. 

 

"..." 

Before he opened his eyes, the first word that he thought of is 'safety'. 

 

Of this, he thought of three people. 

  
One was the lonely young woman he'd met on the bridge that fateful night. A sad smile and sadder eyes, who talked of her family and ailing child. 

Who he met again in _his_ employ, tear stains still visible on her cheeks. 

 

For the woman called Kurena, he prayed for her safety. 

 

Then he remembered that she still hasn't returned and his throat is dry. 

 

The second was a bright young man who he remembered as a boy. By 'boy', he meant the him from a few years earlier, but he'd acted so innocent, so naive and so cheerfully oblivious, that was the term he'd used to define him. A boy with a sunny smile and kind eyes, whose hand was warm as he shook hands with him.

A boy with a strong smile and wavering eyes, who waved him farewell as he left the town gates.

 

For the boy named Mikage, he prayed for his safety.

 

Then he remembered that he can never see him again.  

 

The third was a little child that he'd met for the first time under storm clouds, drenched wet as if the sky wanted to hide his tears and his sadness. A child with shaky hands and a shakier voice, who refused to look him in the eye. 

A child who looked at him with haunted eyes the second time they'd met, scrunching his hands up and speaking words too grown-up for him. 

 

For the child called Capella, he prayed for his safety.

 

Then he remembered that he'd probably never be safe again.

 

He opened his eyes and the blinding white of the hospital room fills his vision. 

 

"...?" 

His body felt weak, horrendously weak. 

 

"Where...oh."  _  
_

He didn't need to look too far to see him. 

 

A figure in black, sharp contrast with his pale skin and sharper eyes. Sitting close, too close, too  _fucking_ close to him.

 

"You're awake." 

 _Finally._ It's heavily implied in his sentence, impatience seeping into his very tone. 

 

"...I'd hoped otherwise."

That response doesn't rouse a reaction out of Ayanami. Not yet.

 

...Or maybe it does. 

He could recognize the storm in his eyes. 

 

There's a second word in his prayer, but he can't remember. 

 

Ayanami reached over and he feels a tug. Ah, Ayanami's taken his hand. 

Heavily bandaged, he could barely feel it. Through the bandages and the medicines that make his eyes heavy, his thoughts weak. 

 

He could barely feel the kiss on his palm, the lips on his fingers and the tongue that tastes his skin. 

But it still revolts him, makes him want to throw up. 

 

"I'd thought you'd appreciate something like this." 

"All it's doing is making me retch." He said dryly, pulling his hand away, "You're acting creepy. More than usual." 

  
"Only acting creepy, hm." 

"Thus far, anyway." 

 

Ayanami's changed his tune, but he's only acting. Of course he can tell. 

Of all people, he should know when a person starts to lie.

 

"I thought it was strange. A boy from class had come and visited while you were still asleep." 

 

That's all it took for the cold sweat to break out over his skin. 

A boy from class. Who was it? He honestly doesn't know, because who would  _care_ enough to visit him?

 

"The Oak boy. He was quite worried about you. He'd heard quite a lot of things, it seems." 

_Hakuren._

"..."

 

"They'd found you wandering the streets, covered in blood. You were bleeding far too much." 

...He was smiling again. 

 

Deep from within, he felt a shard of fear pierce through his heart. 

 

"But some of it was not  _your_ blood, was it?" 

 

He looked down.

 

"Who were the others? Had they tried to harm you?"

Not an ounce of warmth or worry in that tone. 

 

"Why do you care?" 

"Because someone has to pray for the corpses that you leave behind." 

 

And then...then, he sounded absolutely  _delighted._

 

 

"Since when were you the type to pray?" 

His words sounded steady, at least. He raised his head up again and tempers his fear, met those cold, dead eyes, "Don't tell me the District has had an influence on you." 

 

"Staying in any place for this long, you'd adapt to some of their customs." Ayanami said. He's the one who looked away now, "And you are the same aren't you?" 

 

A hand that tugged on his hair, hard. 

He sucked in a breath. An involuntary gasp of pain. 

 

_He's angry._

_This is bad._

 

"Isn't that the meaning of your existence?" 

"My existence?"

 

He'd wipe it out with the next few words, like he'd always try to do.

 

"To protect the master of this body, Mikhail." 

 

Ayanami hated to say his name. 

Had he run out of patience already? 

 

"I do not pray." Mikhail said coldly, "I do enough to protect him on my own."

 

_My prayers are his. They belong to him._

 

"I wonder. What exactly are you willing to sacrifice?" 

 

Mikhail closed his eyes.

_Everything._

 

 

"I could kill you before you even so much as move."

"I know." Mikhail said. 

 

And beyond everything else, he doesn't want this body to die.

 

"Your master would surely suffer when he wakes up. So don't move." 

  
Words endlessly repeated. 

To protect his master, he had to lie still. 

 

Mikhail gritted his teeth as he moves closer.

 

_Lie still. Be weak._

 

Mikhail closed his eyes. 

 

_Be weak so you could let him be strong._

"How far you've fallen, Angel of Death."

 

He'd come to hate that name almost as much as his master did. 

 

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"Promise you something?" Frau asked. The question is unexpected comes at him from left field, almost. 

 

"Yeah. Before I can tell you anything, you have to promise me this." 

 

How strange. 

Hadn't he heard that question a few hours before? Yeah.

Word for word. 

 

In a young boy's hoarse, dying breath. 

 

_"Promise me something."_

_It was a plea in the harsh tone of a curse. He'd refused to let Frau go, let Frau get any help. With strength far more than his feeble, broken body had ever let on, he grabbed hold of him._

_Strength that had been reflected in his eyes. Dark green, unfocused, like he wasn't even seeing who was in front of him._

_Like the words were a desperate prayer for a god not willing to listen._

_"...Let me go! I need to get-"_

_"I can't! Not until you promise me!" He'd yelled._

  
_"Why...?! Fine! What do you want me to promise you?!"_

_What was that after?_

_Was it his imagination?_

_He'd sworn that he saw the boy's eyes flash red._

_"You shouldn't break this promise. No matter what."_

_"Fuck, I get it already! Just tell me!"_

_The boy smiled. Almost angelic even as he uttered the next words-_

 

"Frau?"

"...It's nothing. Can you...just get it over with?" Frau inhaled, a deep breath and asks, "Whaddya want me to promise you, Glasses?" 

 

"Just one thing. After you hear this story, I want you to do something for me."

"What?" 

  
"I'll explain later." 

 

"...Whatever. It shouldn't be harder to do than the other promise I have to keep." 

 

"Other promise?"

"The brat made me promise something to him before I could get him help." 

 

"What exactly was that?" 

"You don't need to worry about it. You know as well as anybody else that I'm terrible at keeping promises." 

 

"...Not exactly the best kind of attitude when  _I_ am the one asking you to keep them."  _  
_

"Yeah, but you're a pain in the ass to deal with. So I keep them for sanity's sake." 

 

Castor huffed then, almost childlike. But he noticed the look in Frau's eyes. 

 

He hadn't seen it for awhile. 

 

"Whatever promise he asked you to keep...don't do it." He said finally.

"Way ahead of you, Glasses." 

 

There was no way he could. 

 

But the expression on the kid's face was burned into his mind. 

 

_"Promise me, Frau." He'd said and his words are little more than puffs of air, his tone so brittle it could break into pieces._

 

  
In a hospital room with the door strangely locked...

 

...A boy with red eyes embraces a man.

 

_For a boy so far-gone to make a monster protect him,_

_To make an Angel of Death pray for salvation,_

_  
I want you to fulfill a promise to me._

 

And behind his back, he smiles. 

 

_"Frau, I'm begging you."_

_"Please...kill me."_

 

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End file.
